Nicolas de Fer | |
---|---|
Born | 1646 |
Died | 25 October 1720
Paris, France | (aged 74)
Nationality | French |
Occupation(s) | cartographer, geographer, engraver, publisher |
Parent(s) | Antoine and Geneviève |
Nicolas de Fer (French pronunciation: [nikɔla də fɛʁ], 1646 – 25 October 1720) was a French cartographer and geographer. He also was an engraver and publisher. His works focused more on quantity than quality, there were often geographical errors, [1] and they were more artistic than accurate. [2]
De Fer was the youngest of three sons of Antoine de Fer, who was also a cartographer. [3] 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. [4] After the death of his father in June 1673, his mother Geneviève initially took over the map making company, which had begun to decline. [5] She passed it and the atelier, called Quai de L'Horloge, on to Nicolas in 1687 because of her old age. [5]
De Fer was so successful at improving the firm that, in 1690, he became the official geographer to Louis, Dauphin of France. [6] 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. [3] [5] Because of this, his maps became Bourbon propaganda, endorsing French King Louis XIV. [5] [6]
His business flourished, producing town plans, atlases, wall maps, and more than 600 sheet maps. [3] He made maps of places in Europe and North America, including New Spain, [7] places fortified by Vauban, [8] 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 a map which plagiarized elements of de Fer's work, particularly the beaver scene. It became known as the "Beaver map". [9] [10] De Fer became the official geographer for The King of Spain in 1720. [6] 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. [1]