6 parts in 1, including Bion's L'Usage des globes and Luyts' Tables. Double-page title-page printed in red & black (with hand-colored vignette); [16], 30, [2], 102, [2], 98, [2], 82, [2], 120, [8], 256, [1] pp. With double-page added pictorial title-page/frontiispiece & 74 double-page maps in the main work, the Bion with 13 (of 14 or 15?) plates of diagrams, 10 of them fold-out; the added title, maps and diagram plates all richly colored in a contemporary hand, heightened in gold. (sm. 4to) 22x16.5 cm (8¾x6½"), old calf, rebacked with modern calf, most of original spine strip laid on.
A lovely copy of Sanson's gentleman's pocket atlas, with Bion's work on globes and cosmography, the latter featuring striking folding plates diagramming the workings of the celestial systems. The contemporary coloring is rich and vibrant, with heightening in gold to the cartouches and to the principal towns on all the maps. Although this atlas is always listed under Nicolas Sanson, it is essentially Francois Halma's plagiarized pocket version of the Sanson atlas, with the map divided into Continent groups. This copy lacks the double-page celestial map in the Bion, and possibly another plate in that section as well (some listings indicate there should be 15 in all, our copy has 13).
Condition:
Covers scuffed and aged, expertly rebacked; two blank leaves at front with margins chippd and frayed; contents of the Sanson portion with outer 2½" or so moderately dampstained, but the maps still quite appealing - this staining diminishes toward the back, and does not affect the Bion section or its plates; overall very good.