CARTE DU GOLFE DE GUINEE

£95

Bellin's beautifully detailed and engraved map of the Gulf of Guinea, from the atlas of Prevost d'Exiles' influential collection of travel narratives, Histoire Generale des Voyages. Featuring many place names, depth soundings, and a highly decorative title cartouche, the map encompasses the coasts of present day southern Nigeria (Cap Formosa), Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Cape Lopez in Gabon, as well as the islands of Sao Tome and Principe in the Atlantic.

Excellent hand colour.Very good condition

code : M2492

Cartographer : Jacques-Nicolas BELLIN

Date : 1754 Paris

Size : 25.5*28cms

availability : Available

Price : £95

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Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772) was one of the most important and prolific French cartographers of the mid-eighteenth century, in the service of the French Hydrographical Office. He was appointed the first Ingenieur Hydrographe de la Marine, and also Official Hydrographer to the French King.

Bellin was responsible for an enormous output of charts and maps. In a large folio format, he issued a volume of sea-charts of France, the Neptune Francois, and several sea-atlases of the World, including the Atlas Maritime and the Hydrographie Francaise. These large charts were amongst the best of the period and continued being reissued throughout the second half of the eighteenth century.

In smaller format, he issued the Petit Atlas Maritime (1764),which contained 580 detailed charts, as well as maps to illustrate l'Abbe Prevost's Histoire Generale des Voyages (1746-1757). Bellin also produced a substantial number of important separately issued maps, particularly reflecting continuing discoveries and political events in the Americas.