Pierre Duval

Answering the summons of King Louis XIV, Pierre Duval (1618–1683) moved from his hometown of Abbeville to work as a geographer, cartographer and publisher in Paris, where he was later appointed Geographe Ordinaire du Roy. In this role, Duval was continuing a family legacy, as his uncle and mentor was ​‘the father of French cartography’, Nicholas Sanson. In 1654, Duval began producing his own cartographic works, including atlases of the ancient world, a Mediterranean pilot and a folio world atlas. After Duval’s death, French engraver Jean Langlois engraved his portrait, showing the cartographer in black robes, framed in an oval and set atop a plinth, on which a biography is given in Latin.