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This map, dating to 1764, provides a detailed view of the fortified town of Port Ferrare (Portoferraio) on the northern coast of Elba. Jacques Nicolas Bellin, a prominent French hydrographer, highlights the Citadel and the surrounding fortifications, the “Ville” within the protective walls, and various points of interest such as the Pointe du Fort and the Lazaret. The map prominently displays the Bay of Ferrare (Baye de Ferrare), with rhumb lines radiating from a central compass rose to indicate bearings within the bay. The surrounding canals, moorings, and depths are carefully rendered to guide vessels approaching this strategic harbor. The artistic embellishments include a decorative cartouche framing the title, typical of Bellin's stylistic approach. The map appeared in Bellin’s Le Petit Atlas Maritime, a significant work in the cartographic history of the 18th century.
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.
![Mola [and] Gaeta. [Tu quoque littoribus nostris Aeneia nutrix Aeternam moriens famam Gaieta dedisti.]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/86480.jpg)
