World in Mercator projection, by Jacques Nicolas Bellin. 1756-1770
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772)
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, a French geographer, was among the most important mapmakers of the eighteenth century. In 1721, at the age of 18, he was appointed hydrographer of the Ministry of the Navy following the French hydrographic office's creation and the Dépot of charts and plans of the Navy. Appointed hydrographic engineer in August 1741. Member of the Academy of the Navy and the Royal Society of London.
Over the course of a 50-year career, he drew the maps of several major works of his time such as Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle-France de Charlevoix (1744); Histoire générale des voyages de l'Abbé Prévost (published between 1746 and 1759) ); Neptune François (1753), Hydrographie Françoise (1756-1765), and Petit Atlas Français (1763) - reissued as Petit Atlas Maritime (1765). He is the most copied cartographer of the 18th century.
His maps of Canada and the French territories of North America are of considerable value. This is all the more remarkable since, an archetype of the cabinet cartographer, Bellin never came to America. For his cartography of the St. Lawrence River, he entrusted handwritten maps to navigators to correct and enrich. With each return of these maps, he was updating his knowledge. Two basic needs drive its cartography of North America: to secure navigation on the St. Lawrence River and to claim for France the lands explored by the French in the Great Lakes region and along the Mississippi River.
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin died on March 21, 1772, in Versailles. In the burial certificate, he is described as "the first engineer of the navy and the deposit of plans, royal censor of the academy of navy and the royal society of London".
Carte Reduite des Parties Connues du Globe Terrestre.
Item Number: 28080 Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Antique maps > World and Polar
Old, antique map of World, by Bellin J.N..
Title: Carte Reduite des Parties Connues du Globe Terrestre.
Dressée au Dépost des Cartes Plans et Journeaux de la Marine.
Pour le service des vaisseaux du Roy.
Par Ordre de M. de Machault Garde des Sceaux de France,
Ministre et Secretaire d'Etat aiant le Département de la Marine.
Par le Sr. Bellin, Ingenieur de la Marine et du Dépôt des Plans.
Censeur Royal de l'Academie de Marine et de la Societé Royale de Londres.
M.DCC.LV.
Date of the first edition: 1755.
Date of this map: 1756-1770.
Date on map: 1755.
Copper engraving, printed on paper.
Size (not including margins): 540 x 820mm (21.26 x 32.28 inches).
Verso: Blank.
Condition: Original coloured in outline, excellent.
Condition Rating: .
References: Wagner, #583
From: L'Hydrographie Françoise ou Recueil des Cartes Dressées au Deposit des Plans de la Marine pour le Service des Vaisseaux du Roy. Paris, 1756-70. (Shirley (Brit.Lib.), M.Bell-2a)
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772)
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, a French geographer, was among the most important mapmakers of the eighteenth century. In 1721, at the age of 18, he was appointed hydrographer of the Ministry of the Navy following the French hydrographic office's creation and the Dépot of charts and plans of the Navy. Appointed hydrographic engineer in August 1741. Member of the Academy of the Navy and the Royal Society of London.
Over the course of a 50-year career, he drew the maps of several major works of his time such as Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle-France de Charlevoix (1744); Histoire générale des voyages de l'Abbé Prévost (published between 1746 and 1759) ); Neptune François (1753), Hydrographie Françoise (1756-1765), and Petit Atlas Français (1763) - reissued as Petit Atlas Maritime (1765). He is the most copied cartographer of the 18th century.
His maps of Canada and the French territories of North America are of considerable value. This is all the more remarkable since, an archetype of the cabinet cartographer, Bellin never came to America. For his cartography of the St. Lawrence River, he entrusted handwritten maps to navigators to correct and enrich. With each return of these maps, he was updating his knowledge. Two basic needs drive its cartography of North America: to secure navigation on the St. Lawrence River and to claim for France the lands explored by the French in the Great Lakes region and along the Mississippi River.
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin died on March 21, 1772, in Versailles. In the burial certificate, he is described as "the first engineer of the navy and the deposit of plans, royal censor of the academy of navy and the royal society of London".
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