Sign In

- Or use -
Forgot Password Create Account
The item illustrated and described below is sold, but we have another example in stock. To view the example which is currently being offered for sale, click the "View Details" button below.
Description

Bellin's Revised Map of French Louisiana, etc.

Scarce large format map of the settled portions of North America, extending from New England and the Great Lakes to Florida and west to the Mississippi River.

The map is one of Bellin's earliest maps of any part of North America. The map was originally produced for Charlevoix's Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle France. The map was compiled in part from the Chaussegros de Lery manuscripts and is also noteworthy for the fictitious mountain range in Michigan. Rich with Indian information, notes, early french forts and other early features.

In 1750 and again in 1755, Bellin significantly revised and updated the map, including improved cartographic detail in the Great Lakes. The coverage of the map is also extended further south to show all of Florida.

Jacques Nicolas Bellin Biography

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.