1764 Bellin Map of Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
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Description: This hand colored map is a c. 1764 map of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Town, South Africa. Attributed to French cartographer Jacques-Nicholas Bellin, this map was issued both in Bellin's Le Petit Atlas Maritime Recueil de Cartes et de Plans des Quatre Parties du Monde and in the French edition of Provost’s Histoire des Voyages. Beautifully rendered mountains and villages show the area in considerable detail. Bellin identifies the “Village of the Hottentots”, Blue Mountain, Cow Mountain, Table Mountain, The City of Cape Town itself, Tigerbergen, and many other features. Some oceanic depths are indicated. Of interest is also the Isle of Robben, located centrally on the map. Long a place of exile and punishment, this island prison had a reputation for brutality and cruelty. Today a museum honors the site of so much suffering.
Date: 1764 (undated)
Source: Bellin, J., Le Petit Atlas Maritime Recueil de Cartes et de Plans des Quatre Parties du Monde, (Paris) 1764. Also in: Provost, A., L`Histoire Generale des Voyages, (Paris) 1764.
Cartographer: Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703 - 1772) is one of the most important cartographers of the 18th century. With a career spanning some 50 years, Bellin is an important transitional cartographer. His long career as "hydrographer" and "Ingénieur Hydrographe" to the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine resulted in the completion of hundreds of high quality nautical charts of practically everywhere in the world. Bellin's work focuses on accuracy and tends to be less decorative than the earlier 17th and 18th century work of predecessors such as Homann. In addition to numerous works published during his lifetime, many of his maps were published posthumously. He was succeeded in his position by student Rigobert Bonne. Click here for a list of rare maps from Jacques-Nicolas Bellin.
Size: Printed area measures 7.5 x 9.5 inches (19.05 x 24.13 centimeters)
Condition: Very good. Original pressmark visible. Blank on verso. Wide margins.
Code: CapeTownSafrica-bellin-1764 (to order by phone call: 646-320-8650)
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