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The First Printed Map of Lake Champlain -- Based Upon French Manuscript Sources
Finely executed pair of maps covering Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River, from Quebec to Montreal, etc. published in Bellin's Petit Atlas Maritime.
The map of Lake Champlain is of particular note. Based upon French manuscript maps from the 1750s, this is the prevailing configuration of Lake Champlain until the end of the French & Indian War.
At the time of its issuance in 1764, Brassier had completed his survey work and prepared a more accurate manuscript map of Lake Champlain, but this map would not be published by the British until 1776, making the Bellin map the most accurate and detailed printed map of the region until the outset of the American Revolution.
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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