Rigobert Bonne 1780 World Map – Planisphere suivante la Projection de Mercator
By 1780, European cartographers had filled in most of the world’s coastlines but still guessed at the interior of Australia and the shape of the Northwest Coast. This Rigobert Bonne world map catches that moment. Bonne (1727 to 1794) served as royal hydrographer to France and drew maps for Abbe Raynal’s histories of European trade and colonization, which is how his name and Raynal’s ended up paired on plates like this one.
The original plate carries the title Planisphere suivante la Projection de Mercator, and the Mercator grid is the whole point: straight rhumb lines, latitude and longitude ruled across the sheet, the poles stretched wide. It reads as a working navigator’s world rather than a decorative one.
Map Shop prints it as an ultra-high quality digitally restored reproduction, scanned from the original at high resolution and cleaned of defects. Finishing options include:
- Premium 36lb paper
- Satin lamination
- Foam core mounting
- Black or walnut rails
- Full framing
Popular with history enthusiasts, collectors of early Mercator cartography, and designers dressing a study, library, or law office wall.

