Historic Map : Esnauts and Rapilly Map of Paris France, 1782, Vintage Wall Art

A fine 1782 dissected pocket map of Paris issued by Esnauts and Rapilly. Centered on the Seine, this map depicts Pre-Revolutionary Paris. As this map was being drawn Benjamin Franklin was the toast of the town, visiting to negotiate the Treaty of Paris that formally ended the American Revolutionary War. Though Revolutionary sentiment was high among the Parisian populace, it had not yet taken on the radicalism that would soon follow. Thus street names and building names here reflect their pre-Revolutionary status rather of the more egalitarian nomenclature adopted later in the Revolution (ie. Palais Royal = Palais de l'egalite).

Unlike many cartographers, Esnauts and Rapilly survived and even thrived throughout the French Revolution. This map was first issued in 1777 and updated regularly through the early 1800s, thus offering a fascinating cartographic overview of one of Paris' most dynamic and terrifying historic periods.