Superb sea chart of the Atlantic Ocean by Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772), the Royal Hydrographer and head of the Depot de la Marine in Paris. This chart was published to aid in the navigation of ships across the Atlantic during the French and Indian War. The chart is crisscrossed by rhumb lines radiating out from 11 compass roses and the coasts of Europe and Africa, North America, the West Indies, Panama and South America are finely delineated with major port cities named. Although the cartography is confined primarily to the coasts, there is good detail of the rivers and mountains within the Americas, including the Appalachian mountains and the Amazon River. In North America, the colonies are named, and Florida bears an almost triangular shape. Both Bermuda and a "false" Bermuda are located to the east. A magnificent title cartouche in lower right is decorated with crowns, scrolls, leaves and flowers in the 18th century rococo manner. A smaller cartouche at top left surrounds informational text with a key identifying different observations of longitude and latitude. This is the third updated edition of a map originally produced in 1738 for the Ministre de la Marine. A very handsome chart from a master hydrographer during a critical time period in French colonization.

References: Tooley (MCC-96) #724.

Condition: B+

A sturdy, watermarked sheet with light soiling, some extraneous creasing along the centerfold, and a few minute worm holes. There are remnants of hinge tape on verso. The grayish shadows along the centerfold are caused by our scanner and do not appear on the map itself.