DESCRIPTION:
SOLD
Fine antique nautical chart from 1851 of Southern Florida and the Keys to Cuba including the Bahamas to Eleuthera. This scare old chart after a work by Edmund Blunt in 1847 was produced by the French Depot-General de la Marine and includes the circular imprint of that organization. Points of interest include "Havane" (Havana, Cuba) and Fort Dallas (est. 1836), at the mouth of the Miami River. Notably absent is any mention of the towns of Miami, Palm Beach or any other population center in that area. Insets at upper right and upper left contain profiles of topographic features.
Old maps of Florida by the Depot de la Marine are uncommon and should be prized both by the collector and by those interested in their use as nautical décor.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: 1851
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States
BODY OF WATER: Atlantic
CONDITION: Very Good
Strong impression and good margins. Bright strong paper with a hint of age toning, and only two very tiny water stains. Uncommonly blemish free for a working sea chart.
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER: Chassant
SIZE: 36
" x
24 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 0
PRICE: $
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