Le Fort Louis du Rhein. Basti par Louis le Grand en 1688. dans une Isle du Rhein a 8. Lieues au dessous de Strasbourg 10. au des sus de Philisbourg..

Title

Le Fort Louis du Rhein. Basti par Louis le Grand en 1688. dans une Isle du Rhein a 8. Lieues au dessous de Strasbourg 10. au des sus de Philisbourg..

Description

Map shows a plan of Fort-Louis in Lower Alsace, situated on an island in the Rhine, with a title cartouche and a scale of disance.

ca. 1690

Artist

Fer, de (1646-1720)

Nicolas de Fer ( 1646 - 1720 in Paris) was a French cartographer and geographer. He also was an engraver and publisher. 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 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, de Fer was so successful at improving the firm that, in 1690, he became the official geographer to Louis, Dauphin of France. With support from the Spanish and French Royal Families, de Fer also became official geographer for Philip V and Louis XIV, the kings of Spain and France, respectively. Because of this, his maps became Bourbon propaganda, endorsing French King Louis XIV. His business flourished, producing town plans, atlases, 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, and the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1698, de Fer published a map of North America, which included a depiction of beavers building dams near Niagara Falls. Seventeen years later, Herman Moll published an identical map as his own, known as the -Beaver map-. De Fer became the official geographer for His Catholic Majesty 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.

Historical Description

Fort-Louis was built in the 17th century under King Louis XIV as a fortress. The complex was designed by the famous military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. The fortress served to secure the Rhine border and played an important role in the wars between France and the Holy Roman Empire. Over time, it was besieged and destroyed several times. Today, Fort-Louis is a small village, and only a few remains of the once significant fortress still exist.