DESCRIPTION: Antique original engraved chart of the northwest portion of the island of Mallorca, Spain, the largest of the Balearic islands in the Mediterranean sea. Includes the capital city, Palma surrounded by a wall, and the Bay of Palma. Coverage extends from the "Cote de Solery" and Sa Dragonera (with two watchtowers shown) past the Bay of Palma to "Cap Blanc". A detailed inset includes the area at the harbor in Palma, "la mole", a jetty or breakwater where accoring to Ayrouard there was room to moor 5 galleys stern-first, as is still the custom in the Mediterranean: "en grande point, on peut y placer 5 galeres la poupe au mole en quatres amarres."
This rare chart by Jacques Ayrouard (Marseilles ca. 1730) comes from a scarce nautical atlas: "Recueil de Plusiers Plans des Ports et Rades et de Quelque Cartes Particulieres de la Mer Mediterranee".
Little information exists on Ayrouard's background but like Henry Michelot two decades earlier, Ayrouard was a pilot of the French royal galley, the Reale, based in Marseille. Ayrouard's port plans and charts are very different from Michelot's earlier works; the much larger size (17"x11") and the extensively shaded topography enable the viewer to easily recognize Ayrouard's plans. Large compass rose with fleur-de-lis. Plate 70 but manuscript notation at upper left reads "No. 69".
PUBLICATION DATE: 1746
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: Spain
BODY OF WATER: Mediterranean
CONDITION: Very Good.
 Extremely clean with ample margins for framing. Strong impression with single vertical fold, as issued.
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER: Unknown
SIZE: 17
" x
11 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 8
PRICE: $600
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