1801 Depot de la Marine Nautical Map of Florida, Cuba, Bahamas, Santo Domingo

Most trafficked and contested part of the West Indies.

A scarce and elegantly engraved 1801 nautical map of Florida and the Greater Antilles, including Cuba, the Bahamas, Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, issued by the official French hydrographic office, the Dépôt de Marine. The map covers from the eastern Yucatan to Puerto Rico and from just north of Cape Canaveral, Florida, to the banks south of Jamaica - thus embracing the most heavily trafficked and contested waters in the West Indies.

The Best Spanish Source

As suggested by the title, the chart owes it cartography and hydrography to Spanish charts issued immediately prior. We note the distinctive shape of Florida, general toponomy, and meticulous mapping of Cuba and the Bahamas as derivative of an early edition of the Direccion Hidrografía chart, Nueva Carta Del Canal de Bahama.

Publication History and Census

This map was first issued in 1801, as here, by the Dépôt de Marine. It was engraved by Charles-Étienne Collin and J.P. Besançon. Scarce to the market.

Cartographers

Dépôt des Cartes et Plans de la Marine (fl. 1720 - present), often called the Dépôt Général de la Marine, was a French hydrographic mapping organization founded in 1720 under Charles-Hercule of Albert de Luynes (1674 - 1734). Much like the U.S. Coast Survey, the British Admiralty, and the Spanish Deposito Hydrografico, the Dépôt was initiated as a storehouse and distribution center of existing nautical and marine charts. Eventually the Dépôt initiated its own mapping activities in an attempt to improve and expand upon existing material. Some of the more prominent cartographers and hydrographers associated with the of Dépôt Générale des Cartes were, Philippe Buache, Jacques-Nicholas Bellin, Giovanni Rizzi-Zannoni, Rigobert Bonne, and Jean Nicolas Buache.   Further Details...

Charles-Étienne Collin (1770 - 1840) was a French engraver active in Paris during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Collin was born in Paris to a long line of important French engravers dating back to Jean Collin. He was the son of Bernard Collin (1737 - 1791), son of Jean. Collin engraved for the seminal 1809 - 1822 Description de l'Egypte and extensively for the Dépôt de la Marine. He was contracted by his cousin by marriage, Phillipe Buache (1700 - 1773), for his exceptional engraving mastery to work for the Dépôt de la Marine from at least August 1793. He worked with his brother, Jean-Louis Collin (1775 - 1858), from 1800 to 1803. His son, also Charles-Étienne Collin or just Étienne Collin II (1790 - 1852), apprenticed under him and worked with him from 1821 to 1829. Under Charles-Étienne Collin (1770 - 1840) and then his son, the firm was located in Paris at N° 45, Rue de la Harpe - the last known work attributed to 'E. Collin' appeared in 1831. Distinguishing between the 'Collin' family of engravers on Dépôt de la Marine charts is difficult. The elder Étienne Collin (1770 - 1840) typically signed his work 'E. Collin' or later 'E. Collin père'. His son signs some of his work as 'E. Collin' and others as 'C.E. Collin fils.' There is some evidence of another generation of Collin engravers, also Charles-Étienne Collin, signing his work as 'C. E. Collin' between 1840 and 1875.   Further Details...

J.P. Besançon (fl. c. 1798 - 1835) was a French engraver who specialized in lettering. Besançon began engraving nautical charts for Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré (August 6, 1766 - March 16, 1854) in 1802. He engraved 83 maps for Beautemps-Beaupré, then the hydrographer in chief, between 1802 and 1831, when he handed off the work to J.M. Hacq. Little else is known about Besançon's life and career.   Further Details...

Condition

Good. Some foxing and discoloration. Minor repairs to top margin. Discoloration in Hispaniola. Closed repair upper left quadrant.

References

OCLC 557910605.