Edme Mentelle (1730 – 1816)/Pierre Gilles Vhanclaire (1758 – 1817)/Pierre Francois Tardieu (1711 – 1771)
Edme Mentelle was a French geographer, historian and cartographer active in Paris during the late 18th century.
The poems and comedic plays he published early in his career were not successful. Therefore he turned to the study of geography and became Professor of Geology and History at the Ecole Militaire where, incidentally, he was tutor of the young Napoleon Bonaparte. He remained in this position until the institution was abolished in 1792. Mentelle later worked as a private tutor and then as a Professor of Geography at the „Ecole Normale Superieure“. In 1795 he became a member of the „Institut National des Sciences et des Arts“. Mentelle has published some important geographical works including the „Atlas Universel“ which was published progressively over several decades.
Many of the earliest and most important maps are dated 1779 which is generally considered as the starting point of the atlas. The last edition of 1806 lists 171 maps.
was consisting of 170 maps and worked together with Conrad Malte-Bruno and Ambrose Tardieu.
Pierre Gilles Chanlaire was a French geographer and cartographer. The period of his childhood and studies remains obscure. In 1780 he worked as a Attorney to the Supreme Court. Apparently, the outbreak of the French Revolution made him turn to geography. At the beginning of the 19th century he worked for the „Centrale des Eaux et Forest“ where after some years he took over the land registry office. Chanlaire produced some important geographical works including a world political and geophysical atlas and detailed maps eg „Carte d‘Europe, dresser sur la meridienne de Paris“.
Pierre Francois Tardieu was a French engraver and mapmaker, a member of the large and profilic Tardieu family which for over 200 years has produced works. He was a general engraver whose work was not limited to maps but also included historical and genre works.
Map Details
This map is taken from „L‘Atlas Universel“ edited by Mentelle and Chanlaire, Paris 1806, and engraved by Pierre Francois Tardieu. The title cartouche is placed in a rectangle in the lower left and three distance scales in the upper left corner. The map shows Scandinavia, the northern part of the British Isles, the Faroe Islands and Iceland („Islande“). It is rather accurate with a lot of place-names.
This applies also to Iceland which is characterized by many rivers and mountain ranges. Two names are written with larger characters: Hecla and Skalkolt. The Arctic Circle („Cercle Polaire Arctique“) runs correctly through Grimsey but the „Nord Cap“, the northernmost point of the Westfjords, is wrongly situated even further up north.