Depot de la Marine
1870

Antique French Chart of the Chagos Islands with Diego Garcia

Carte des Isles Chagos levee en 1837 par MM.R. Moresby et F.T. Powell. Officiers de la Marine de la Compagnie de India.

DESCRIPTION: Engraved antique nautical chart of the Chagos Island Archipelago, in the Indian Ocean, based on surveys of Moresby and Powell of the British East India Company. Published by the French Admiralty (Depot de la Marine) in 1841 with essential corrections in 1870.

The Chagos Island lie in the Indian Ocean about 300 miles south of the Maldive Islands. Diego Garcia, a United States military base, is located in the southeastern portion of the Chagos Archipelago.

Contains the circular anchor stamp of the Depot General de la Marine. With a black over-stamp, partially illegible but believed for "Cartes de la Marine Impériale. Debrie Libraire au Harve, Seul Depositaire."

Price: two Francs. Engraved by Chassant. Chart number 943.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: 1870

GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United Kingdom

BODY OF WATER: Indian Ocean

CONDITION: Very Good. Clean and bright. Solid. Single central horizontal fold. On heavy, fine wove paper.

COLORING: None

ENGRAVER: Chassant

SIZE: 23 " x 34 "

ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 59

PRICE: $1300

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