This is a fascinating 1852 map of the French department of Ille et Vilaine. France.  Its coastal area is famous for its seafood, and especially its oysters.  The region is also known for its remarkable megalithic prehistoric ruins. The whole 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.  Published by V. Levasseur in the 1852 edition of his Atlas National de la France Illustrée. Text in french: <div class="poem">
<p>STATISTIQUE.<br><br>
DIVISION, ADMINISTRATION<br><br>
Le département d’Ille-et-Vilaine est un des cinq qui forment l’ancienne Bretagne. Il est<br>
divisé en 6 arrondissements communaux, 43 cantons et 347 communes. Sa population<br>
est de 562,958 habitants, sur une étendue de 672,385 hactares, ce qui donne 131 habi-<br>
tants par lieue de poste carrée. Revenu des propriétés immobilières des communes 73,005<br>
francs. Impôt foncier 1,926,074 francs. 15<sup>e</sup> division militaire. 25 Arrondt Forestier. 12<sup>e</sup><br>
Inspection des Ponts et Chaussés. 5<sup>e</sup> Légion de Gendarmerie. Inspection Nord-Ouest<br>
des Mines. Cour d’appel et Académie de Rennes. Evêché à Rennes suffragant à l'Ar-<br>
chevéché de Tours
</p>
</div>
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Victor_Levasseur_(cartographer)" class="extiw" title="w:en:Victor Levasseur (cartographer)"><span title="19th-century French cartographer">Victor Jules Levasseur</span></a>
</bdi>
1852 (undated)
This file was provided to Wikimedia Commons by <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.geographicus.com/">Geographicus Rare Antique Maps</a>, a specialist dealer in rare maps and other cartography of the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, as part of a <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Geographicus" title="Commons:Geographicus">cooperation project</a>.