Sign In

- Or use -
Forgot Password Create Account
The item illustrated and described below is sold, but we have another example in stock. To view the example which is currently being offered for sale, click the "View Details" button below.
Description

Superb example of the first state of this large map of the East Coast, from south of Long Island to Isle Royale. Extends to West of the Hudson, showing Fort Hunter on the Mohoch River. Excellent detail throughout New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the Province de Terre Main, as well as throughout the Canadian regions of the map. Hundreds of place names, soundings, rivers, islands, shoals, banks, ports, bays, etc. The coastal detail and detail along the rivers is truly remarkable. Includes a very large inset of Boston Harbor and Vicinity, again with soundings, islands, and at leat 30 placenamesa and a cartouche and compass rose. Striking large cartouche, compass rose, rhumb lines and other decorative features. The true first state of this important Depot De La Marine Chart, distinguishable by the lack of rhumb lines in the Boston inset. Overall an excellent example, with a 3/4 inch right margin, otherwise full margins, with an exceptionally dark plate strike. One of the best general New England coastal charts of the French & Indian War period, which is now quite scarce on the market.

Jacques Nicolas Bellin Biography

Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772) was among the most important mapmakers of the eighteenth century. In 1721, at only the age of 18, he was appointed Hydrographer to the French Navy. In August 1741, he became the first Ingénieur de la Marine of the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine (the French Hydrographic Office) and was named Official Hydrographer of the French King.

During his term as Official Hydrographer, the Dépôt was the one of the most active centers for the production of sea charts and maps in Europe. Their output included a folio-format sea atlas of France, the Neptune Francois. He also produced a number of sea atlases of the world, including the Atlas Maritime and the Hydrographie Francaise. These gained fame and distinction all over Europe and were republished throughout the eighteenth and even in the nineteenth century.

Bellin also produced smaller format maps such as the 1764 Petit Atlas Maritime, containing 580 finely-detailed charts. He also contributed a number of maps for the 15-volume Histoire Generale des Voyages of Antoine François Prévost.

Bellin set a very high standard of workmanship and accuracy, cementing France's leading role in European cartography and geography during this period. Many of his maps were copied by other mapmakers across the continent.