Martinique Island in the Caribbean by Bellin Original Original Antique Map, 1780
US$261
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1780
Sheet size
25 × 34 cm (9.8 × 13.4 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13618-40
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 condition, consisdering its age. Original fold lines as issued. One small light brown spot in lower margin. Attractive colors.
About this sheet
Martinique charted by Jacques Nicolas Bellin, an original copper engraving with outline hand color made for Prevost's Histoire Generale des Voyages. The title reads "Carte de l'Isle de la Martinique pour servir a l'Histoire Generale des Voyages", with the scale given in French and English marine leagues of 20 to the degree and Bellin's credit as engineer of the Marine below. The plate numbers in the lower corners mark its place in the volume.
The island is drawn in detail, with hills in pictorial hachure, a dense scatter of coastal names and the roads and tracks that run inland. Fort Royal, Saint-Pierre, the Cul de Sac Royal, La Trinite and the headland of Le Diamant at the southern tip are all marked. Two diagonal lines cross the sheet: one carries a north arrow at the upper left, and the other is the longitude west of Paris, running down to the lower left. The decorative scroll cartouche at the top is enclosed in an ornamental frame, with a plain ruled border around the sheet.
Bellin was Hydrographer of the French Navy, and his charts of the Antilles were among the standard references of the period for the French islands.
