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Description

Highly detailed large format map of the Southern Hemisphere, showing the tracks of the major voyages of exploration in the Southern Hemisphere from 1595 to 1775.

The map was prepared to illustrate the French edition of Cook's report of his voyages in the region. The map includes the coastlines of Australia, New Zealand and part of SE Asia, Africa and South America. The primary feature of the map is the remarkably detailed depiction of the various voyages in the Southern Hemisphere, including the voyages of Mendana (1595), Quiros (1606), Le Maire and Schoeten (1616), Tasman (1642), Halley (1700), Roggewein (1722), Bouvet (1738-39), Carteret (1767), Wallis (1767), Byron (1768), Bouganville (1768) Cook (1770-75), and others.

In addition to the map is a detailed set of tables of Latitudes and Discoveries, covering approximately 60 islands, bays, and other locales.

Condition Description
Minor offsetting. Prtinter's creases near top and bottom centerfold.
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.