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The map offers a detailed 1764 depiction from Jacques-Nicolas Bellin's Petite Atlas Maritime. It focuses on the Isle of Mogador, now known as Essaouira, located off Morocco's coast. Key features include the main island, marked with fortifications and buildings, and a chateau on the mainland opposite the island, indicating significant defensive structures. The port area is prominently shown, highlighting its importance for maritime activities.
Navigational aids such as soundings (depth measurements) and warnings about sandbanks and rocks are scattered throughout, providing essential information for sailors. Hydrographic details like currents, tides, and a marked torrent (watercourse) on the mainland indicate the dynamic nature of the harbor. The map includes a decorative title cartouche and a compass rose, pointing north with a fleur-de-lis, aiding navigation.
In the mid-18th century, Mogador was a crucial trading post and fortified city under Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah, serving as a key point for trade between Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Bellin's work, renowned for its precision, reflects the strategic and economic importance of Mogador's port and defenses during this period, making the map both a navigational tool and a valuable historical document.
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.
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