Map of Virgin Islands and Lesser Antilles by Rigobert Bonne, c. 1780
€ 330
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1780
Sheet size
36.5 × 25.4 cm (14.4 × 10.0 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13619-11
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Good dark impression on laid paper with wide margins. Some slight toning along center fold and faint edge wear consistent with age. Original platemark visible.
About this sheet
The Virgin Islands and nine Lesser Antilles on one sheet, an original copper engraving by Rigobert Bonne, Ingénieur-Hydrographe de la Marine, from his Atlas Encyclopédique and dated c. 1780. The plate is titled "Supplément pour les Isles Antilles, extrait des cartes angloises."
The upper third of the sheet is a chart of Les Isles Vierges, with Puerto Rico at the left edge, St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Spanish Town and the smaller cays and passages between them drawn in fine hachuring and soundings. Below are nine small framed plans arranged in three rows: Barbuda ("I. de la Barboude"), St. Christopher ("I. St. Christophe") with Nevis, Antigua, Dominica ("I. de la Dominique"), St. Lucia ("I. de Sainte Lucie"), Barbados ("I. de la Barbade"), St. Vincent, Grenada ("I. de la Grenade") and Tobago ("I. de Tabago"). Each shows coastal names, bays, capes and anchorages. A scale in sea leagues and in common leagues is engraved beneath the title, and the plate number appears at the upper right.
Bonne's atlas sheets were made for maritime use, and this one gathers the smaller British and French islands of the Caribbean, with their harbors, in a single reference.
