City Readers Digital Historic Collections at the New York Society Library

Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɑ̃ batist buʁgiɲɔ̃ dɑ̃vil]; born in Paris July 11, 1697 – January 28, 1782), was both a geographer and cartographer who greatly improved the standards of map-making. His maps of ancient geography, characterized by careful, accurate work and based largely on original research, are especially valuable. He left unknown areas of continents blank and noted doubtful information as such; compared to the lavish maps of his predecessors, his maps looked empty.