During the second half of the eighteenth century Paris became the map making center of the world. Two of its most important contributors were L. C. Desnos and Claude Buy de Mornas. Louis-Charles Desnos (France, 1725 - 1805) was both a globe maker and publisher of maps. In the former capacity he was appointed globe maker to the King of Denmark but spent most of his life working in Paris. Besides this map, which was published in "Atlas Methodique et Elementaire", L.C. Desnos also published the maps for "Routes des Postes" (1761), "Nouvel Atlas d'Angleterre" (1767) and "Atlas General" (1786).

 

Claude Buy de Mornas (died 1783) was both the publisher and author of the text for "Atlas Methodique et Elementaire". He also served as Geographer to King Louis XVI and the Duc de Berry. Both Louis-Charles Desnos and Claude Buy de Mornas ran their Paris establishments from the Rue St. Jacques.

These original engraved maps are important not only for the subjects each represent, but they also demonstrate how strongly the disciplines of geography and astronomy were allied in the eighteenth century.  England's National Maritime Museum includes seventeen examples of these L. C. Desnos and Buy de Mornas maps in its permanent collection. They can be seen at their web site www.nmm.ac.uk.