Nicolas Sansonn D'abbreville Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Nicolas Sanson (Abbeville, 20 December 1600 – Paris, 7 July 1667) was a French cartographer, famous in the 17th century. He studied at the Jesuit college in Amiens. Read the full biography

Nicolas Sanson (Abbeville, 20 December 1600 – Paris, 7 July 1667) was a French cartographer, famous in the 17th century. He studied at the Jesuit college in Amiens. A map of France that he had drawn when he was only 18 attracted the attention of Cardinal Richelieu, who called him to court to teach geography to Louis XIII; he later also taught this subject to Louis XIV. It is said that Louis XIII, passing through Abbeville, preferred to stay in Sanson's house rather than in the palace that the authorities had reserved for him. He was so satisfied with his hospitality that he appointed him State Councilor shortly afterwards. After his death his two sons Guillaume and André succeeded him as court geographers and then passed this position on to their nephew Robert de Vaugondy. Sanson had lost his firstborn Nicolas in 1648 during the Fronde. In 1692 the cartographer Hubert Jaillot collected Sanson's papers in an «Atlas nouveau». Other editions of his works were published in the 18th century under the titles Atlas de géographie ancienne, Atlas britannique and Catalog des cartes et livres de géographie de Sanson (1702).