Levasseur – Antique Map of Burgundy La Cote d’Or
This is a decorative departmental map from Victor Levasseur’s Atlas National Illustré, depicting the French department of La Côte-d’Or, published in Paris in the mid-19th century. The map presents Côte-d’Or as the historic heart of Burgundy, emphasizing its celebrated vineyard landscapes and agricultural richness alongside an extensive network of towns, roads, rivers, and canals.
Centrally placed, the map shows Dijon and the surrounding wine districts that form the backbone of Burgundy’s reputation, with vineyard areas extending south toward Beaune and the Saône valley. The surrounding engraved vignettes highlight wine production, rural labor, commerce, and notable local figures, visually reinforcing the department’s identity as one of France’s foremost wine regions. Barrels, bottles, grapes, and harvest scenes frame the cartography, underscoring the economic and cultural importance of viticulture.
The engraved border illustrations are almost entirely devoted to viticulture and wine production. Scenes of the grape harvest, oak barrels, wine bottles, and rural labor frame the map, presenting Côte-d’Or first and foremost as a wine-growing landscape. These images visually echo the department’s famed vineyards and reinforce its identity as the core of Burgundy’s wine culture, where agriculture, commerce, and daily life are inseparable from the cultivation of the vine.
Locations shown include
Dijon, Beaune, Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Gevrey, Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne, Vosne-Romanée, Vougeot, Clos-Vougeot, Chambolle, Chambolle-Musigny, Morey, Morey-Saint-Denis, Fixin, Marsannay, Aloxe, Aloxe-Corton, Pernand, Pernand-Vergelesses, Savigny, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Chorey, Chorey-lès-Beaune, Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne, Chassagne-Montrachet, Santenay
Date of Publication: 1847
Victor Jules Levasseur was a leading French cartographer of the mid-19th century, celebrated for maps that combine precise geographic information with rich allegorical and regional imagery. His work belongs to a period when cartography was closely linked to education, national identity, and visual storytelling.
Levasseur is best known for the Atlas National Illustré des 86 Départements et des Possessions de la France, first published in 1847. This ambitious atlas presented each département with detailed mapping surrounded by decorative vignettes illustrating local agriculture, industries, landscapes, and customs. These elements were designed to make geography both informative and visually engaging, reflecting contemporary interest in regional character and economic life.
The ornamental scenes surrounding many of the maps were drawn by Raymond Bonheur, a respected painter and the father of the celebrated artist Rosa Bonheur. Bonheur’s illustrations contribute significantly to the atlas’s distinctive appearance, grounding the maps in vivid representations of rural labor and everyday life. Individual plate credits are noted where visible.
Highly sought after by collectors, Levasseur’s departmental maps are admired for their exceptional decorative borders, detailed regional content, and their ability to combine cartography with scenes of everyday life and production in 19th-century France.
Most maps from this series measure approximately 33 × 49.5 cm. Please see individual listings for specific dimensions, condition details, and information on margins or trimming.
Cartouche text – Original French
TERRITOIRE, CURIOSITÉS, CÉLÉBRITÉS.
La Côte d’Or offre les différentes espèces de sol qui suivent:
98,000 hectares de sol, riche terreau. 130,191 hectares de craie.
576,254 hect. de gravier. 53,000 hectares de différentes sortes.
Le territoire présente en pays de montagnes 659,070 hectares. Les
collines plantées de vignes produisent les excellents vins de Chambertin,
Romanée, Clos Vougeot, Pommard, Volnay, &a.
Mines de fer en grand nombre. Houille, tourbe, gypse, terre à poterie, pierre de
taille. Marbre de toutes couleurs. Meules à aiguiser. Pierre lithographiques.
Eaux minérales chaudes à Cessey, Premeaux et Alise.
CURIOSITÉS.
L’antique colonne de Cussy. Les grottes près le Val-de-Suran, remarquables
par leurs stalactites. La source de la Douix. La cascade de Menevault à
4 kilomètres de Nolay. La cathédrale de Dijon, le portail de l’Église
Notre-Dame et la fameuse horloge dite Jacquemar. Les deux tours de l’ancien
palais des Ducs de Bourgogne. Les mausolées de Jean-sans-Peur et de Philippe
le Hardi. L’obélisque élevé en 1784 lors de l’ouverture du canal de
Bourgogne. Le pont d’Auxonne. Le château de Fontaine Française. Le puits de
Châtillon-s.-Seine. L’ancien château de Semur qui sert de caserne, près de
Montbard le ch.ᵃᵘ de Buffon.
CÉLÉBRITÉS.
Parmi les ducs de Bourgogne, on remarque Philippe-le-Bon, Philippe-le-Hardi,
Jean-sans-Peur et Charles-le-Téméraire. Sont également nés dans ce Dépt.,
St Bernard, prédicateur des Croisades. Hugues Aubriot prévôt de Paris qui fit
bâtir la Bastille. St Antoine. Théodore-de-Bèze célèbre orateur protestant.
L’Évêque de Meaux Bossuet. Le savant Bouhier. L’historien Desbrosses. Le
naturaliste Daubenton. Le Grᵈ écrivain Buffon. Crébillon. Longépierre.
English translation
Territory, Curiosities, Celebrities
The Côte-d’Or offers the following types of soil: 98,000 hectares of rich loam;
130,191 hectares of chalk; 576,254 hectares of gravel; and 53,000 hectares of
various other soils. The territory includes 659,070 hectares of mountainous
land. Hills planted with vines produce the excellent wines of Chambertin,
Romanée, Clos Vougeot, Pommard, Volnay, etc.
Numerous iron mines are found here, along with coal, peat, gypsum, potter’s
clay, and building stone. Marble of all colors. Millstones for sharpening.
Lithographic stone. Hot mineral waters at Cessey, Premeaux, and Alise.
Curiosities
The ancient column of Cussy. The caves near the Val-de-Suran, remarkable for
their stalactites. The source of the Douix. The Menevault waterfall, four
kilometers from Nolay. The cathedral of Dijon, the portal of the Church of
Notre-Dame, and the famous clock known as Jacquemart. The two towers of the
former palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. The mausoleums of Jean sans Peur and
Philippe le Hardi. The obelisk erected in 1784 at the opening of the Burgundy
Canal. The bridge of Auxonne. The château of Fontaine-Française. The well of
Châtillon-sur-Seine. The former château of Semur, now used as a barracks.
Near Montbard, the château of Buffon.
Celebrities
Among the Dukes of Burgundy are Philippe the Good, Philippe the Bold, Jean
the Fearless, and Charles the Bold. Also born in this department are Saint
Bernard, preacher of the Crusades; Hugues Aubriot, provost of Paris who built
the Bastille; Saint Anthony; Théodore de Bèze, celebrated Protestant orator;
Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux; the scholar Bouhier; the historian Desbrosses; the
naturalist Daubenton; the great writer Buffon; Crébillon; and Longépierre.