Dutch edition of this important regional map of the Great Lakes. The next major step forward in the French mapping of North America after De l'Isle's work in the early 18th Century, was made by Nicolas Bellin with the publication of his maps of New France in 1744.
His prototype map of the Great Lakes was issued in Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix's Histoire et Description Generale de la Nouvelle France, and is based on the manuscript work of Chaussegros de Lery who was chief engineer of the army in New France.
It is the first map to show the imaginary islands of Philippeaux and Pontchartrain in Lake Superior. It also shows a curious elevated plateau in the Michigan Peninsula. Despite these misconceptions, Bellin's rendering of the Great Lakes was the most accurate yet published, and it remains one of the most striking depictions of the region.
This example was issued by Bellin in the Histoire Generale des Voyages, but retains all the features of the 1744 Charlevoix edition. The large lakes in Lake Superior still appear.
Wide margins.