Conrad Malte-Brun (1775 – 1826) & Pierre Lapie (1779 – 1850)
Conrad Malte-Brun, born Malthe Conrad Bruun, was an important Danish-French cartographer and journalist. Born in Thisted to an administrator of Danish crown lands, he was originally destined for a career as pastor but chose instead to attend classes at the University of Copenhagen and became a supporter of the French Revolution and an activist for the freedom of the press. He published numerous articles criticizing the Danish Government. A particular cause for offence was a pamphlet he published in 1795 entitled „Catechism of the Aristocrats“. He was finally charged with defying censorship laws in 1799 and forced to flee to Sweden and ultimately France where he embarked on a profilic career in geographie and cartography. Along with his colleague Edme Mentelle he produced his first important work „Geographie mathematique, physique et politique de toutes les parties du monde“ (6 volumes, published between 1803 and 1812). Several other activities and publications followed. In time Malte-Brun became known as one of the finest French cartographers of his time.
After his death his second son followed in his footsteps, republishing many of his fathers 18th century maps as well as publishing numerous maps on his own. The Malte-Brun firm operated well into the 1880s.
Pierre Lapie was a French cartographer and engraver. He was a colonel in the French army , where he worked in the corps of topographical engineers. Pierre published with his son Alexandre Emile together and individually.
Map Details
The finely engraved map was created by Conrad Malte-Brun and Pierre Lapie.
The engraver J. B. Tardieu and the printer Giraldon contributed to the production of the map and are mentioned under the neatline. The map is part of a world atlas, published by François Buisson: „Atlas Complet du Précis de la Geographie Universelle“, Paris 1812. It is embellished with an decorative vignette of trees framing the title.
The map shows Scandinavia, the western part of Russia („Empire Russie“), the Baltic region, Prussia („Prusse“) and the Netherlands („Hollande“), including Iceland („Islande“) and the Faroe Islands („Isles Faeroer“) in two separate insets in the upper left corner, with two distance scales underneath.
In terms of composition the map is richly detailed. In the main part of the map numerous place-names are to be found but with regard to Iceland there are many along the coastline and only few in the interior, amongst them the bishoprics Skalholt and Holar, written correctly without church symbols, the volcano Hekla which is only named and „Lac My“, a lake in the North which is probably Myvatn.
Relief is depicted using hachures, a technique evolving shading with parallel lines to indicate terrain elevation and depth, with outline colours enhancing the boundaries and features of each country.