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1750 Bellin Map of Tonkin River (Red River or Sông Hồng) and Hanoi, Vietnam
CarteRiviereTunquin-bellin-1750$112.50
Title
Carte du Cours de la Riviere de Tunquin depuis Cacho jusqu'a la Mer. Levée par un Navigateur Anglois.
1750 (undated) 8.5 x 6 in (21.59 x 15.24 cm) 1 : 900000
1750 (undated) 8.5 x 6 in (21.59 x 15.24 cm) 1 : 900000
Description
This is a hand colored 1750 Jacques Nicholas Bellin map of the Tonkin (Tunquin) River, Vietnam. The map depicts the river's course from Cacho (modern Hanoi) to the Bay of Tonkin. The map is oriented slightly to the northeast, as depicted by a compass in the upper left corner. At Cacho, the lap makes special note of the Royal Palace and depicts a collection of buildings around it. Along the course of the river, the map notes several waypoints, most of which are islands, but the map depicts a city 'where the English have a bar.' A pagoda is also depicted on an island near the bay. As the river nears the bay, depth soundings are given, as well as two locations that would serve as a suitable anchorage, which are denoted by anchors.
This map was produced by Jaques Nicholas Bellin for inclusion in Abbé Prévost's Histoire Générale des Voyages, volume IX in 1750.
This map was produced by Jaques Nicholas Bellin for inclusion in Abbé Prévost's Histoire Générale des Voyages, volume IX in 1750.
Cartographer
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703 - March 21, 1772) was one of the most important cartographers of the 18th century. With a career spanning some 50 years, Bellin is best understood as geographe de cabinet and transitional mapmaker spanning the gap between 18th and early-19th century cartographic styles. His long career as Hydrographer and Ingénieur Hydrographe at the French Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine resulted in hundreds of high quality nautical charts of practically everywhere in the world. A true child of the Enlightenment Era, Bellin's work focuses on function and accuracy tending in the process to be less decorative than the earlier 17th and 18th century cartographic work. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bellin was always careful to cite his references and his scholarly corpus consists of over 1400 articles on geography prepared for Diderot's Encyclopedie. Bellin, despite his extraordinary success, may not have enjoyed his work, which is described as "long, unpleasant, and hard." In addition to numerous maps and charts published during his lifetime, many of Bellin's maps were updated (or not) and published posthumously. He was succeeded as Ingénieur Hydrographe by his student, also a prolific and influential cartographer, Rigobert Bonne. More by this mapmaker...
Source
Prévost, A., Histoire Générale des Voyages, ou Nouvelle Collection de Toutes les Relations de Voyages par Mer et par Terre..., (Paris: Didot) 1746 - 1759, Supplements 1761 - 1801.
Prévost's Histoire Générale des Voyages is a 15-volume compendium of travel literature initiated by Antoine François Prévost (Provost; 1697 - 1763) in 1746, intended as a universal history of exploration and geography. The initial publication, compiled from 1746 to 1759, spans 15 volumes and draws from a vast array of sources - travelers, explorers, missionaries, merchants, and diplomats - to present detailed narratives of significant global journeys. The work was initially published in Paris by Didot and offers ethnographic, political, religious, and natural observations about the peoples, cultures, flora, fauna, and geography. It is an ambitious attempt to organize knowledge about the world's diversity according to Enlightenment values, reflecting both scientific curiosity and imperial ideology. It functioned as both an informative reference and a literary work, influencing how European audiences understood and imagined distant lands. It proved extremely successful, and both reissues other publishers and pirate editions emerged, most notably Pierre de Hondt's 1747 Dutch edition and Jean-Franćois de la Harpe's 1780 abridged version. In addition to reissues of the original work, between 1768 and 1801, additional expanded volumes emerged, adding new voyages and histories. We have seen some sets with as many as 80 volumes. Over time, the Histoire générale des voyages became one of the most comprehensive and widely read travel collections of the 18th century, notable for blending factual reporting with the period's characteristic intellectual ambition.
Condition
Very good. Blank on verso. Original press mark visible.
References
OCLC 707613558.