Nicolas de Fer (, 1646 – 25 October 1720) was a French cartographer and

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

. He also was an engraver and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. His works focused more on quantity than quality, there were often geographical errors, and they were more artistic than accurate.

Early life

De Fer was the youngest of three sons of Antoine de Fer, who was also a cartographer. When he was 12, he became the

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

of Parisian engraver Louis Spirinx, and made his first map, of the Canal du Midi, at the age of 23. After the death of his father in June 1673, his mother Geneviève initially took over the map making company, which had begun to decline. She passed it and the

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or ...

, called Quai de L'Horloge, on to Nicolas in 1687 because of her old age.

Career

De Fer was so successful at improving the firm that, in 1690, he became the official geographer to

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

, Dauphin of France. With support from the Spanish and French royal families, de Fer also became official geographer for

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...

and

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

, the kings of Spain and France, respectively. Because of this, his maps became

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

propaganda, endorsing French King

. His business flourished, producing town plans,

atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

es, wall maps, and more than 600 sheet maps. He made maps of places in Europe and North America, including New Spain, places fortified by Vauban, the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

, and the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

. In 1698, de Fer published a map of North America, which included a depiction of beavers building

dams A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

near

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

. Seventeen years later,

Herman Moll Herman Moll (mid-17th century – 22 September 1732) was a London cartographer, engraver, and publisher. Origin and early life While Moll's exact place and date of birth are unknown, he was probably born in the mid-seventeenth century in G ...

published a map which plagiarized elements of de Fer's work, particularly the beaver scene. It became known as the "Beaver map". De Fer became the official geographer for The King of Spain in 1720. Two of his sons-in-law, Guillaume Danet and Jaques-François Bénard, continued the company after de Fer's death on 25 October of that year until around 1760.

Major works

Carte De La Nouvelle France, Nicolas de Fer, coloriée

*''Les Côtes de France'' (1690) *''La France triomphante sous le règne de Louis le Grand'' (1693) *''Atlas Royal'' (first ed. 1695) *''Petit et Nouveau Atlas'' (1697) *''Atlas curieux'' (1700) *''Atlas ou recueil de cartes géographiques dressées sur les nouvelles observations'' (1709) *''La Sphère Royale'' (1717)

References

External links

1685 miniature map of IndiaList of maps by De Fer
Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...

.
Map of the Church of Holy Sepulchre, 1715.
Eran Laor Cartographic Collection. The

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fer, Nicolas de 1646 births 1720 deaths 18th-century French cartographers French engravers French geographers 17th-century French cartographers