Rare Italian Sea Atlas
This is a rare early 19th Century sea atlas of the world, compiled and published in Genoa by Yves Gravier.
The work begins with a magnificent frontispiece view of the Genoese harbor a spectacular foldout chart of flags and naval pennants, each engraved for the publisher, Yves Gravier. The atlas consists of a variety of sea charts covering the world, blending French hydrographical excellence with rare and regional cartographic material. It includes charts published by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin and the Dépôt de la Marine, offering wide-ranging coverage of European, Atlantic, and global waters. Notable highlights include scarce French charts of the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, and the Black Sea—regions infrequently represented in atlases of the period.
The atlas also incorporates a complete set of Joseph Roux’s highly regarded Mediterranean Sea charts, first published in Marseilles in 1764. Roux's Carte de la Mer Mediterranée . . . consists of 12 fine engraved double-page and folding maps that join to create a large wall map of the Mediterranean, and is often found bound as a separate atlas.
Among its transatlantic content are excellent large-format maps of the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as a rare Spanish-language hydrographic chart of the Río de la Plata. The atlas features extensive coverage of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with detailed reduction charts illustrating long-range maritime navigation.
The North American coastal coverage is particularly unusual, offering reduced charts of both the northern and southern seaboards. These include delineations of areas such as Nova Scotia, the mid-Atlantic colonies, and the southeastern coast down to Georgia. There are also reduced charts of the West Indies and the Saint-Domingue landing points.
Rounding out the atlas is a final, hand-drawn map of the environs of Saint-Tropez, France—likely a local or personal addition that enhances the uniqueness of the volume. Together, the contents offer a comprehensive and geographically diverse maritime reference, combining practical navigational value with significant cartographic rarity.
The atlas was published at a fascinating moment, immediately after the dissolution of the Republic of Genoa in 1797. The Genoese merchant marine still facilitated trade between Ligurian ports and markets in the western Mediterranean, particularly in grain, wine, olive oil, and textiles, but its operations were constrained by political instability, the disruption of maritime routes during the Napoleonic Wars. Under French rule and later annexation, Genoa’s maritime infrastructure was reoriented toward supporting French imperial logistics. It was in this moment that Yves Gravier created this rare sea atlas. Gravier had been active as a publisher of books and maps for at least the prior two decades in Genoa, but this work, which expanded from 31 maps to 37 maps by 1802, seems to be his most ambitious undertaking.
Rarity
The atlas is very rare, and the present example seems to be an unrecorded variant, with more maps than the only recorded example of the 1801 edition noted below.
OCLC locates the following examples:
- 1798: Bibliotheque National de France; Library of Congress (31 maps)
- 1801: Massachusetts Historical Society (32 maps)
- 1802: Peabody Essex Museum; National Maritime Museum (UK) (38 plates)
We locate a single example of the 1798 edition (with only 31 maps) at auction.
List of Maps and Charts
- Tableau de Tous les Pavillons que l'on Arbore sur les Vaisseaux Dans les Quatre Partie du Monde
- Carte des Variations de la Boussole et des Vents Généraux que l'on Trouve dans les Mers les Plus Frequentées
- Carte de la Mer Mediterranée en Douze Feuilles. Première Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] II.e Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] III.e Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] IVe. Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] V. Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] VI. Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] VII. Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] VIII. Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] IX. Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] X. Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] XI. Feuille
- [Carte de la Mer Mediterranée] XII. Feuille
- Carte Réduite de la Mer de Marmara et du Canal des Dardanelles
- Carte Réduite de la Mer Noire
- Carte du Détroit de Gibraltar [with inset:] Plan de Gibraltar
- Carte Hydrographique de la Baye de Cadix
- Plan du Port de Lisbonne et des Costes Voisines [with inset:] Idée de la Ville de Lisbonne
- Carte Réduite des Costes d'Espagne et de Portugal
- Carte Réduite du Golphe de Gascogne
- Carte Réduite des Costes de France de Portugal et d'Espagne sur l'Ocean et sur la Mediterranée
- Carte Réduite de la Manche Pour servir aux Vaisseaux du Roy
- Carte des Entrées de la Tamise
- Carte Réduite des Costes de Flandre et de Hollande [with inset:] Carte des Entrées de Texel et de Flie
- Carte Réduite des Mers du Nord
- Carte Réduite des Costes Occidentales d'Afrique. Première Feuille contenant Les Costes de Barbarie depuis le Détroit de Gibraltar jusqu'au Cap Bojador et les Isles Canaries
- Carte Réduite de l'Ocean Occidental Contenant Partie des Costes d'Europe et d'Afrique depuis le 51 Dégré de Latitude Septentrionale jusqu'à l'Equateur et celles de l'Amerique qui leur sont opposées
- Carte Hydrographique de la Rivière de la Plata Rivière d'Argent [also titled as:] Mapa y Planta del Rio de la Plata
- Carte Réduite du Golphe du Mexique, et des Isles de l'Amerique
- Carte Réduite de l'Ocean Meridional Contenant Toutes les Costes de l'Amérique Meridionale depuis l'Equateur jusqu'au 47 Degré de Latitude Et les Costes d'Afrique qui leur sont opposées
- Carte Réduite de l'Ocean Oriental ou Mer des Indes. Seconde Edition.
- Carte Réduite des Mers Comprises Entre l'Asie et l'Amérique Apelées par les Navigateurs Mer du Sud ou Mer Pacifique
- Carte Réduite des Costes Orientales de l'Amerique Septentrionale. I.re Feuille contenant l'Isles Royale, l'Acadie, la Baye Françoise, la Nouvelle Angleterre, et la Nouvelle Yorc [with inset:] Plan du Havre de Baston
- Carte Réduite des Côtes Orientales de l'Amérique Septentrionale Contenant Partie du Nouveau Jersey, la Pen-sylvanie, le Maryland, la Virginie, la Caroline Septentrionale, la Caroline Méridionale, et la Géorgie
- Carte Réduite des Iles Antilles [on sheet with:] Carte Réduite des Debouquement de St. Domingue
- [Hyères to St. Tropez]
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.