Jamaica – Original Antique Island Map by Rigobert Bonne, c.1780
€ 370
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-14105-39
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 detail; margins ample for framing.
About this sheet
Jamaica in a copper engraving by Rigobert Bonne, circa 1780, titled "Carte de l'Isle de la Jamaïque," credited "Par M. Bonne, Ingénieur Hydrographe de la Marine." The sheet is printed in black without color, and the island is the sole subject of the plate.
The whole island is drawn from west to east with its mountainous spine rendered in heavy hachured shading, centered on the Blue Mountains range at the east. Parishes and counties are lettered across it, including a Surrey and a Middlesex division, and the coast is cut by bays and ports, with Kingston, Port Royal and the Palisadoes at the south and Montego Bay on the northwest coast. Rivers run from the hills to the sea, and the sea is left blank apart from a few soundings and capes. Scale bars at the upper right give Italian miles, English miles, common French leagues and marine leagues, a good sign that the sheet was meant for readers across Europe.
Bonne was hydrographer to the French navy at the Dépôt de la Marine in Paris, succeeding Jacques-Nicolas Bellin. Jamaica was then one of Britain's most valuable sugar colonies, and the island is shown here in careful detail from French sources.
