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This finely engraved map of Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, was published in Le Petit Atlas Maritime by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin.
Based on Dutch cartographic sources, the plan presents a detailed view of the city's urban layout along the Suriname River, highlighting its streets, fortifications, and key public buildings. The grid-like street pattern reflects the Dutch colonial planning principles, with major roads intersecting at right angles, forming a well-organized urban core. The map includes significant landmarks such as Fort Zeelandia, a strategic stronghold that played a crucial role in the defense of the Dutch colony, as well as a synagogue for the Portuguese Jewish community, a Lutheran church, a hospital, and the governor’s residence.
The Suriname River, prominently featured along the right side of the map, is marked with depth soundings to aid navigation, while a compass rose indicates cardinal directions. The presence of cultivated fields surrounding the city illustrates the agricultural economy that supported the colony, particularly in the production of sugar and other cash crops. A battery at the river’s edge is labeled, emphasizing the city’s fortified nature and its role in protecting Dutch interests in the Caribbean and South America.
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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