DESCRIPTION: Exceptional antique French nautical chart of the Western Mediterranean Sea, including the southern coasts of Spain and France and the northern coast of Africa. Nearly perfect condition. Coverage on this handsome folding sea chart extends from Cadiz, Spain eastward past Cape Trafalgar, Gibraltar, Malaga, Cartagena, to Cape Palos. Hundreds of named towns, villages, and geographic features ring the coastline with depth soundings, but virtually no interior details. Latitude and longitude scales.
With the circular stamp of the French Depot de la Marine. Price when issued: Three Francs. No. 93.
Exterior of the original linen cover contains a decorative octagonal seller's label: "Ch. Piquet, Geographe ordinaire DU ROI et de S.A.R. Monseig(neur) le Duc d'Orleans. A Paris Quai de Conti No. 17, entre l'Hotel des Monnaies et le Pont des Arts."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: 1793
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: Spain
BODY OF WATER: Mediterranean
CONDITION: Very Good.
Laid to brown linen when issued. Essentially without flaws, clean and bright, a testament to the virtues of storing charts away from noxious influences like sunlight
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 35
" x
22 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 0
PRICE: $900
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