Pierre Du Val

1619-1683

BiographyPierre Du Val (1619-1683) was an important and prolific mapmaker who worked in Paris in the late seventeenth century. He was the nephew of Nicolas Sanson, regarded as the leading French mapmaker of the period, and studied under his guidance. Showing the family talent for cartography, Du Val became a Géographe du Roi (Geographer to the King of France) from 1650 and resided in the Maison du Roi receiving a wage of 350 livres. In 1654, Du Val established his own business in Paris editing maps for publication, producing maps and cartographic documents for a variety of French map-sellers. He also re-engraved and published some of Sanson's maps and became one of the most prolific mapmakers and publishers working at his time in France.

Du Val also produced games designed to teach geography and apparently a version of Snakes and Ladders. While he died in 1683, Du Val's business was continued by his widow Marie Desmaretz, and then by his daughters.

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