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This finely engraved map depicts the fortified port city of Porto Longone (modern-day Porto Azzurro) on the eastern coast of the Island of Elba. The map, titled Plan de Porto Longon, illustrates the city's defensive layout, with its star-shaped fortifications labeled "Ville de Longon" and additional structures such as "La Redoute" and "La Forteresse." The surrounding waters of the port are detailed with soundings marked, showing the depth for safe navigation. Topographical features include "Pointe de la Fourco" and "Mont Olive," giving a sense of the natural defenses of the area. The chart includes a decorative title cartouche and a scale bar labeled in toises. This map was originally published in the fourth volume of Jacques-Nicolas Bellin's Petit Atlas Maritime (1764), which featured numerous plans and charts of coastal regions and ports around the world.
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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