http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
1 map : hand colored ; on board 39 x 49 cm
The allegorical map depicts a large Island of Felicité, with the "Mer sauvage" (Wild Sea) to the north and the "Mer favorable" to the south. Dominating the island is the fortified castle of "Bonheur parfait" (Perfect Happiness). Ships that successfully avoid the Rocks of Caprice, the Banks of Temptation, the "Rocher de pruderie" (Rocks of Prudery) can anchor at one of several ports (Wealth, Beauty, Complaisance, Virtue, Equality, and significantly "Felicité"), each with its own route to the castle. Once on land, however, the voyagers are still not entirely safe: From the Port of Beauty, for example, the Path of Coquetry leads to a cesspool deep in the forest surrounding the castle. Likewise, one must take care not to wonder off the Road of Talents, lest one become lost in the Swamp of Pleasures.
Map attributed to Weis. J.-G. Bord's article ("Ordre de la Félicité," L'Intermédiaire des chercheurs et des curieux, no. 1048 (Aug. 10 1904), pp. 169-170) describes a similar map, signed by "Weis. Arg. [i.e., Strasbourg] Fecit." and dated 1743.
Map enclosed in a period decoupage border, hand-painted in watercolor and gold ink, featuring rococo decorative elements as well as symbols specific to freemasonry and l'Ordre de la Félicité. The temple at lower left may represent the Temple of Solomon; the hourglass and scythe at right represent the passage of time; and the letter "G" superimposed on a star at upper left is the letter that appears on Masonic apparel, representing either God or Geometry, the latter considered by freemasons to be the highest of sciences. For freemasons the anchor at lower represented well-grounded hope, and it was also adopted by l'Ordre de la Félicité as its symbol (and can be seen again in the title cartouche at top center of the printed map). The three figures at lower right, a Roman soldier, a woman and a king, may refer to the Christian slave Felicity, martyred in the 3rd century AD. At bottom center several putti bear a heraldic emblem with a fleur-de-lis surrounded by three shields on a blue background. "Filliette, pinx." is written at lower left border, likely a pseudonym.
Map was designed and printed for l'Ordre de la Félicité, a short-lived quasi-Masonic secret society established in France in the early 1740s by Louis-Joseph Scipio La Garde, Marquis de Chambonas (d. 1765), a known Mason who served as its Grandmaster. The order was unusual for admitting women as well as men, as well as for its idiosyncratic use of maritime terminology. The mixed membership and rather risqué character of some its rituals and vocabulary leave scholars divided about the order's true character: was it a genteel society providing conviviality with a gloss of moral improvement, or a haven for libertines given over to debauchery? Much of what is known about the order comes from pamphlets by journalist Jean Pierre Moët (1721-1806).