Essay d'une Carte Reduite, Contenant Les Parties Connuees du Globe Terrestre.

An attractive first edition first state example of J. N. Bellin’s 1778 nautical chart of the world. Presents the entire world on a Mercator Projection based on a Paris (L’Isle de Fer) meridian. This is notably the first state of this important map, exhibiting a pre-Cook geography throughout, but most specifically in the Pacific and along the northwest coast of America. North America to the west of the Mississippi is vaguely rendered according to 16th century expeditions into the region by Coronado, La Salle, De Soto, and others. Bellin identifies the semi-mythical civilizations of Quivira and Teguayo, both associated with legends of the Seven Cities of Gold, in what is modern day Utah, California, and Nevada. Along the western coast the strait discovered by Martin Aguilar is noted. Further north still the River of the West (Fl. de l’Ouest) extends from the west coast to the Lake of the Woods (Lac de Bois) and thence via additional waterways to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic. The River of the West appeared in many 18th century maps of the Americas and is reflective of French hopes for a water route from their colonies in Canada and Louisiana to the Pacific. Still further north the

Date

1778

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

map

Original size

4,000 × 2,902 pixels

Need maps for a whole project? Add Find Any Map to Claude and ask for this one by its id: 144065.