Charles Amadeus DE BEREY
Little is known about Charles Amadeus de Berey’s biographical dates, family background, and education. However, it appears that his father was Claude Auguste Berey, a notable French engraver. Working primarily out of Paris, De Berey was trained in copperplate engraving and cartographic production, establishing himself as a skilled craftsman in this field.
Operating from his workshop on Rue Saint-Jacques, Berey played a vital supporting role in the Golden Age of French cartography during the first three decades of the 18th century. He acted primarily as an engraver and print publisher rather than an independent mapmaker, specialising in executing the precise, scientific lines required by the pioneering geographers of his era. His notable professional achievements stem from his long-standing collaborations with Guillaume de L’Isle, the premier geographer to the French King, whose transition toward mathematically grounded, less decorative maps relied heavily on Berey’s sharp engraving style. Key cartographic works bearing his signature include L’Italie (1700), L’Espagne (1701), Tabula Delphinatus (1711), and Carte de l’Isle de Ceylan (1722), as well as significant multi-sheet hydrographic contributions such as Le Cours du Po, engraved alongside the cartographer Placide de Sainte-Hélène.
Charles Amadeus de Berey is remembered as a meticulous French copperplate engraver whose technical precision helped translate the foundational scientific observations of early 18
th-century French geographers into clear, authoritative printed maps.