Ancient map of North America poster reproduction of 1681. Carte de l'Amérique Septentrionale et Partie Meridionale by Jean-Baptiste Louis Franquelin

Carte de l'Amérique Septentrionale et Partie Meridionale is a remarkable 1681 map of North America created by Jean-Baptiste Louis Franquelin, the official cartographer of New France. Engraved in the French cartographic tradition, the map depicts North America and portions of Central America with a focus on French territorial knowledge, exploration routes, Indigenous nations, river systems, and colonial settlements. Produced during an era of intense European exploration, it reflects both geographic discovery and the political ambitions of France in the New World.

Jean-Baptiste Louis Franquelin (1650–1712) was one of the most important mapmakers of colonial North America. Working in Québec under the French crown, he compiled information from explorers, missionaries, traders, and military expeditions to create some of the most detailed maps of the continent available in the seventeenth century. His cartographic works are valued today for their historical significance, artistic engraving, and documentation of early European and Indigenous geography.

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