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Description

Scarce French & Indian War Era Map of the Southeast

Detailed map of the Carolinas and parts of Georgia and Tennessee, from Bellin's La Petit Atlas Maritime.

The map covers the coastal region from Albemarle Sound to Port Royal and extends inland beyond the Piedmont region to the Cherokee Lands of western Carolina and Tennessee and Georgia. Several major interior roads cross paths in Augusta Georgia, with nice coverage of the region around Augusta. A number of counties are located in the Carolinas, along with several major coastal roads.

While frequently confused with Bellin's smaller map of the region, this map of Carolinas is one of the best large format treatments of the Carolinas to appear during the time period immediately after the French & Indian War. The map includes excellent detail, both geographical and topographical, at a time when the commercial prosperity of the Carolina & Georgia Colonies is beginning to flourish. A nice wide margined example of this scarce map.

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.