French department - Basses Pyrenees

Dept. des Basses Pyrenees Steel engraving with original outline hand-colouring., 1856, from Levasseur's Atlas National Illustre. This department includes the Jurancon wine region, famous for its production dry wines and sweet white wines. The famous Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella passes through this heavily Basque region ultimately crossing the Pyrenees into Spain at St. Jean Pied-de-Port. The map proper is surrounded by elaborate decorative engravings designed to illustrate both the natural beauty and trade richness of the land. There is a short textual history of the regions depicted on both the left and right sides of the map. Levasseur was an important French engineer, cartographer, and engraver of the mid 19th century.