Cuba – Enlightenment Island Map by Rigobert Bonne, c.1780
€ 640
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1780
Sheet size
26 × 41 cm (10.2 × 16.1 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14105-40
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 antique condition. Light age toning and minor handling wear consistent with 18th-century copperplate engraving. Original centerfold as issued. Clean impression with strong legibility; margins ample for framing.
About this sheet
Cuba, a copper engraving by Rigobert Bonne, circa 1780, titled "L'Isle de Cuba," credited "Par M. Bonne, Ingénieur Hydrographe de la Marine." The sheet is printed in black without color, with a graticule and a plate number at the upper right.
The island is shown from Cape San Antonio at the west to Cape Maisí at the east, with the mountains drawn as hachured ridges and the chains of cays along the coasts carefully engraved. Havana is marked on the north coast, the Isle of Pines lies off the south coast, and the Gulf of Xagua opens on the south. The "Détroit de Floride" runs along the top left, the "Vieux Canal de Bahama" at the upper right, and the Bahama Banks and islands fill the upper right corner. Scale bars (Spanish, Castilian, French and marine leagues) are set below the title at the lower left and across the lower right.
Bonne was hydrographer to the French navy at the Dépôt de la Marine in Paris, succeeding Jacques-Nicolas Bellin. The sheet is a map of Cuba as a navigator and administrator would have needed it, with the key sea channels around the island set out beside the island itself.
