Depot de la Marine
1778

1778 Chesapeake Bay Sea Chart after Anthony Smith

Carte De La Baie De Chesapeake et de la Partie navigable des Rivieres, James, York, Patowmack, Patuxeo, Patapsco, North-East, Choptauk et Pokomack. Redigre Pour Le Service Des Vaisseaux Du Roi, au Depot General des Cartes, Plans et Journaux de la Marine, Par Ordre de M. De Sartine, Conseiller d'Etat, Ministre et Secretaire d'Etat au Departe-ment de la Marine, d'apres des Plans Anglois, et particulierement ceux d’Antoine Smith, Pilote de Ste. Marie, 1778.

DESCRIPTION: Large antique nautical chart from the Revolutionary War period of Chesapeake Bay and associated waterways in Maryland and Virginia. The first state of two in the French edition of Anthony Smith's influential and detailed chart of the Chesapeake Bay, Delmarva Peninsula, and surrounding waterways. Coverage includes the towns of Baltimore, Annapolis, Alexandria, Colchester, and James Town. Noted waterways include the Choptank River, Rappahannock River, Pocomoke ( "Pokomack" ) River, Potomac ( "Pawtomack" ) River, and Patapsco River.

Published by the French Depot de la Marine under the auspices of Antoine de Sartine during a period in which he served King Louis XVI as Secretary of the Navy. Text and notes are in French- for example below the town of Norfolk, Virginia is the note "brule en 1776" . That refers to the bombardment of Norfolk with red-hot shot by British naval forces, led by Lord Dunmore. Due to the shelling, British landing parties, and local British patriot forces, Norfolk was totally destroyed between January 1 - 3, 1776.

This first state is differentiated from the second state by the lack of added scrollwork around many of the text blocks and much less stippling of the land masses than in the second state. These decorative flourishes could have easily been added at a later date.

This chart was likely offered for sale individually but was also available as one of 13 full sheets and 5 half sheets published by the Depot de la Marine in the atlas "Neptune Americo-Septentrional contenant les côtes, les et bancs, iles baies, ports, et mouillages, et les sondes des mers de cette-partie du monde, depuis le Groenland inclusivement, jusques et compris le golfe du Mexique." Contains an inset plan of Herring Bay Maryland.The Depot de la Marine was established in 1720 under the French Ministry of the Navy to collect, preserve, and publish nautical charts, sailing directions, and maritime intelligence for the French naval service. Its purpose was both archival and practical: to centralize geographic knowledge gathered from voyages, surveys, and colonial administration, and to convert that information into standardized charts for navigation. Over the eighteenth century the Depot became the principal hydrographic authority of France, issuing engraved sea charts that incorporated data from naval expeditions, colonial outposts, and scientific voyages.

Following the French Revolution, the institution was reorganized and its chart production expanded, particularly during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as global maritime competition intensified. The Depot de la Marine supervised official surveys, revised earlier charts, and maintained copperplates for continued reissue as coastal knowledge improved. In 1886 it was formally reorganized as the Service hydrographique de la Marine, the predecessor of today’s French hydrographic office. Charts bearing the Depot imprint remain important records of French naval activity, colonial expansion, and the technical development of European hydrography.

CREATOR: Depot de la Marine

PUBLICATION DATE: 1778

GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States

BODY OF WATER: Chesapeake Bay

CONDITION: Very good. Clean on heavy wove paper. A strong impression and prominent platemark. Wide margins. A couple of repaired marginal tears not intruding into the printed area.

COLORING: None

ENGRAVER: Petit

SIZE: 34 " x 23 "

ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 53

PRICE: $3900

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