A fine example of one of the key works of Mississippi Valley cartography. German edition of the first printed map to show the mississippi river based upon first-hand european exploration. In 1673, with the French empire's sights set on expanding in North America, an expedition was launched under command of Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette in search of new sources of furs, other trade goods and a better passage to the East. Departing from Green Bay, Jolliet and Marquette followed the Fox River south to the upper Mississippi River. Continuing south, they were the first Europeans to see the Mississippi's junctions with the Missouri, Ohio and Arkansas Rivers. They ceased their expedition at this point for fear of encroaching into Spanish territory.

The first version of Jolliet's map of their discoveries was published in Melchisedech Thévenot's "Recueil des Voyages" in Paris in 1681 and shows the Mississippi River valley north of the Arkansas. The river below the Arkansas to the Gulf of Mexico is speculation on Jolliet's part. It is also the first printed map to include the name Michigan (Lacus Mitchigmai). The present second edition of the map appeared in the German edition of Louis Hennepin's "Description de la Louisiane" (Beschreibung der Landschafft Louisiana), published in Nuremberg, 1689. Burden 540; Schwartz and Ehrenberg, pages 126-130.