DESCRIPTION: An attractive large antique French sea chart of Patagonia in lower South America published by France's Depot de la Marine in 1800. This spectacular chart encompasses the southern half of South America. With part or all of what is today Argentina, and Chile and includes the Falkland Islands. The map, as noted in the cartouche, is based on charts or surveys published in 1789, 1790, etc. by officers of the Spanish Navy.
In a few areas where information about the coast was scarce or completely lacking, the coastline is drawn using a very light line with no shading. For example, the "Canal de St. Sebastien" shown on the chart in the upper part of Tierra del Fuego (Fr. "Terre de Feu") near the Bay of St. Sebastien was completely without basis in fact and its questionable existence is communicated by the use of thin lines on both the north and south limits of that feature.
At top is an inset map of the north part of Golfe de St. George showing Isla Tova. This spectacular chart also contains seven very attractive coastal elevation views that would aid navigators as they approached shore:
- Vue de l'IIe de la Mocha
- Vue du Cap Blanc
- Vue de 'Entrée du Port Desire
- Vue du Cap de 3 Pointes
- Vue des Iles Salvages
- Vue des Iles de Diego Ramirez
- Vue du Cap de Horn
"Prix Trois Francs" at bottom right. Logo of the Depot de la Marine in the lower left of the map.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.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1800
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: Argentina
BODY OF WATER: South Atlantic Ocean
CONDITION: Very good.
Clean. Heavy paper. A strong impression. Some minor achival repairs in the margins and centerfold, not impacting the image.
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER: Collin
SIZE: 24
" x
35 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 51
PRICE: $1450
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