DESCRIPTION: Large, rolled, copperplate engraved antique 'brown-back' working sea chart of the Caribbean (Antilles) issued by the French Depot de la Marine in 1806. Coverage includes from eastern Puerto Rico and its islands of Culebra and Vieques, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago to the Venezuelan coast. The lower portion of the map covers the northern coast of Venezuela including the cities of Cumana and Barcelona. Numerous French place names, soundings and navigation hazards are noted.
Chart is covered with brown linen; probably contemporary to its issue based on the wear pattern. Blueback charts, covered in blue linen, or heavy paper are much more common, These brown back charts are not often found. The linen has done a good job of protecting the map and maintaining it's fine condition over the last 200+ years.
With the circular stamp of the French Depot de la Marine. No 187. Price 3 Francs.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: 1806
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: Caribbean
BODY OF WATER: Caribbean
CONDITION: Very Good.
Uniform browning. Tiny insignificant hole in upper left corner not noticeable. Quite nice.
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER: E. Collin
SIZE: 23
" x
34 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 51
PRICE: $775
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