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The Florida Archipelago in its Grandest Form – An Exceptional Chart of Florida, the Gulf Coast and Caribbean
Rare third and final state of Bellin's important sea chart of the Gulf Coast and the Caribbean, which is substantially revised and updated from the first edition of 1749.
The chart includes a sliver of the Pacific, with the Yucatan Peninsula and the large islands of Cuba and Saint Domingue at the center. The northern-most part of South America looms to the south, with the small dots of the Leeward Islands in the east.
The updates throughout the map are significant, from the changes in the interior of Texas, to the better understanding of the course of the rivers and contours of the coastline throughout the entirety of the Gulf Coast. This is particularly evident near New Orleans.
Throughout this chart are notes as to the whereabouts of colonial fortifications, an indication of how hotly contested this area was by European imperial powers. There is also an unfinished color code to indicate the status of each island with regard to its imperial master: blue for France, yellow for Britain, orange for the Danes, red for Spain, and green for the Dutch. The stakes were high in claiming territorial possessions. For example, Saint Domingue was the most lucrative colony in the world at this time, making France great wealth via enslaved labor working on sugar plantations.
This edition includes mountains in the interior of many landmasses. This gives the viewer an idea of the terrain, even if the purpose of the chart was primarily to share nautical information.
The additions and alterations are also evident throughout Central America and the Caribbean. For example, the outlines of the Yucatan Peninsula and Isle de la Trinite have been reworked. The Leeward Islands are substantially more detailed.
Perhaps the most significant change, and the one which would continue to evolve on maps and charts over the next several decades, is the vastly different treatment of southern Florida. In this edition, Bellin has broken up the Peninsula into a vast archipelago of islands, beginning in the central part of Florida's east coast. Such a depiction is distinctive and reveals how little European navigators still knew of Florida’s shores south of St. Augustine.
States
There are apparently 3 states of the map:
- State 1: Dated 1749
- State 2: (circa 1769). Labeled "Second Edition Annee 17". First state to show Florida as an archipelago
- State 3: (circa 1773): Labed 3e. edition.
The Dépôt de la Marine, known more formally as the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine, was the central charting institution of France. The centralization of hydrography in France began in earnest when Jean-Baptiste Colbert became First Minister of France in 1661. Under his watch, the first Royal School of Hydrography began operating, as did the first survey of France’s coasts (1670-1689). In 1680, Colbert consolidated various collections of charts and memoirs into a single assemblage, forming the core of sources for what would become the Dépôt.
The Dépôt itself began as the central deposit of charts for the French Navy. In 1720, the Navy consolidated its collection with those government materials covering the colonies, creating a single large repository of navigation. By 1737, the Dépôt was creating its own original charts and, from 1750, they participated in scientific expeditions to determine the accurate calculation of longitude.
In 1773, the Dépôt received a monopoly over the composition, production, and distribution of navigational materials, solidifying their place as the main producer of geographic knowledge in France. Dépôt-approved charts were distributed to official warehouses in port cities and sold by authorized merchants. The charts were of the highest quality, as many of France’s premier mapmakers worked at the Dépôt in the eighteenth century, including Philippe Bauche, Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, Rigobert Bonne, Jean Nicolas Buache, and Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré.
The Dépôt continued to operate until 1886, when it became the Naval Hydrographic Service. In 1971, it changed names again, this time to the Naval and Oceanographic Service (SHOM). Although its name has changed, its purpose is largely the same, to provide high quality cartographic and scientific information to the France’s Navy and merchant marine.
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