DESCRIPTION: Antique French sea chart of the island of Saint Pierre about 25 miles south of Newfoundland, in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean.. Lying just offshore of Saint Pierre are numerous smaller islands including Le Grand Colombier; Isle aux Chiens, Isle aux Pigeons, and the gruesomely named "Isle Massacre". The small village is referred to as "le Bourg".
Several features on this chart suggest it was rushed into production. These features include numerous small rectangular areas where the engraving had been smoothed and then re-engraved with place names or descriptors, and at least one area where the chart was smoothed but then left blank. These new additions include "Teste de Galantry"; "Broussailles" ( Fr. Brush wood); and "Bois de Chaufage" (Fr. Heating wood).
In the year this chart was published, 1763, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, France ceded all its North American possessions, but Saint-Pierre and Miquelon were returned to France. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is today a self-governing overseas territory of France.
Large decorative title cartouche at bottom left is adorned with garlands. Rhumb lines extend from a simple compass rose at right. At bottom right the anchor stamp of the Depot de la Marine and a later red hand-stamp of the "Military Depot" containing the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom: a shield and crown flanked by a lion and unicorn.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: 1763
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: France
BODY OF WATER: Atlantic Ocean
CONDITION: Good
Clean, on thick paper with wide margins. On heavy paper. A few small archivally repaired marginal tears as is common, outside of the image.
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 35
" x
22 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 65
PRICE: $550
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