A 'view from space' of the earth's hemispheres; the hemispheres selected are the maritime and terrestrial hemispheres, or 'water' and 'land' hemispheres.This map is quite rare in having the land and water hemispheres as the main subject; these are usually supplementing polar or equatorial views of the world.
Probably from Paolo Santini's Atlas Universel, between 1776 and 1781. Includes 350-word commentary on why the oblique south polar and north polar views were chosen. The terrestrial hemisphere, we are told, is not centred on Paris and the Paris meridian purely for patriotic reasons, but according to scientific principles.