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To ministers of the crown such as Jean Claude Colbert (1619–1683), reversing this situation and revitalizing French economic activity required sweeping administrative reforms and a centralization of power. Mapping was seen as central to that undertaking. Thus Sanson, in his position as géographe de roi, was entrusted by Colbert with responsibility for collecting accurate and detailed maps of each province. Where none existed, the crown’s agents were to provide Sanson with the information needed for new maps.

The O. J. Sopranos Collection Karrow (Mapmakers, p. 9) makes the important point that Ortelius’ Theatrum was much more than a commercial success, and the same may be said of the great atlases of the seventeenth century. They were prized as objects to be collected, displayed, and admired, as much as for the geographical knowledge they contained. Accordingly, maps and atlases were increasingly embellished with ornate cartouches, baroque frontispieces with symbolic personifications of the continents, and surrounded by additional images of peoples, cities, monuments, historical events, and natural flora and fauna.

Primo volume, & Terza editione. Venetia [Venice]: Stamperia de Givnti. LXIII. Courtesy of The University of Chicago Library, Special Collections Research Center Ramusio’s correspondence reveals the gradual evolution of this project, from its initial conception in the course of informal conversations with friends and close associates, to the monumental undertaking that absorbed his energies over nearly thirty years (Howard, “Status of the Oriental Traveller,” pp. 37–38). During this period, Ramusio used his network of friends and political connections to acquire geographical texts and travel narratives.