NOLIN, J.-B. - Le Canal Royal de Languedoc pour la jonction de l'Océan et de la Mer Méditerranée, dédié et présenté à Mgrs. des Estats de Languedoc.

Title at the top, in a cartouche illustrated with allegorical figures, with a garland of shields to the arms of the lords of the lands touched by the Canal, with three medals with the effigy of Louis XIV. - Bottom and left, dedication and garland of shields to the arms of the bishops and archbishops of Languedoc.

In the lower right side, arms of the councilors of the States. - Around the map, in cartons: 46 plans of aqueducts and locks, general map, special maps of the entrance to the Garonne, the Naudrouze basin, the passage of the Orb and the port of Cette and the reservoir of St. Farriol.

"In the strict sense, the Canal du Midi refers to the part initially realized, from Toulouse to the Mediterranean, of the project of Canal des Deux-Mers, all the waterways allowing to to join the Mediterranean and the Atlantic: the Canal du Midi and the Garonne, more or less navigable between Toulouse and Bordeaux, then the side channel to the Garonne, built afterwards, and the estuary of the Gironde after Bordeaux. />It was the wheat trade that motivated its construction. Built from 1666 to 1681, under the reign of Louis XIV and under the supervision of Pierre-Paul Riquet, the Canal du Midi is one of the oldest canals in Europe still in operation (the prototype itself being the Briare canal) . The implementation of this work is closely linked to the question of river navigation in modern times. The challenge, noted by Pierre-Paul Riquet, was to bring water from the Montagne Noire to the threshold of Naurouze, the highest point of the course. "