DESCRIPTION: Antique copperplate nautical chart / port plan of the entrance to the harbor at Port-de-Bouc near Martigues, France produced by French hydrographer and galley pilot Henry Michelot and Laurens Bremond in 1730 . Along with many soundings and navigation hazards the features that Michelot deemed important and referenced by name include a "Pigeonnier", the beach "Plage de Fos", a tower "Tour de Bouc", and numerous "Bordigues" or fish weirs.
Michelot describes Bouc harbor in the English translation of his book of sailing directions published in 1715 - "The Mediterranean Pilot". Michelot's self-confidence in his superior knowledge of the region is unmistakable:
"The mouth is very narrow being only 150 fathoms over; on the starboard point as you go in there is a fortress with a square tower in the middle, of white stone which is seen a great way off; it stands at a low point of an island, which is only separated from the main land by a small rivolet, The Dutch and some authors set down the entrance of this port in their sea-mapps to the eastward of this island where the tower of Bouc is; which shows they have never used this coast, no more than the author of the little Flambeau, printed at Harve de Grace."
Henry Michelot and Laurens Bremond
Henri Michelot was an early eighteenth century French cartographer with a close connection to the sea. He described himself as Hydrographer and Pilot of the Galere Royale (Royal Galley), and was associated with a corps of approximately forty galleys (galeres), oared sailing vessels operating in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast. In the Mediterranean, these galleys were based primarily at the naval arsenal in Marseilles, France. They were typically rigged with triangular Mediterranean lateen sails, a configuration well suited to coastal navigation and variable winds.
Bookseller and royal hydrographer Laurent Bremond, styled “Hydrographe du Roi et de la Ville,” sold charts and maritime books from his establishment in Marseille, located near the port at the corner of Reboul Street (“au Coin de Reboul”). Bremond played a key role in the commercial distribution of nautical knowledge, supplying working mariners as well as official and institutional clients.
The collaborative output of Michelot and Bremond, produced roughly between 1715 and 1730, included an atlas of sixteen small-scale charts, a port book containing thirty-seven large-scale charts, and a Mediterranean coast pilot titled Portulan de la Mer Mediterranee, ou Guide des Pilotes Cotiers. Issued in multiple languages and published in editions extending at least to 1805, this body of work became a primary source of navigational information for the Mediterranean for many decades. The charts of Michelot and Bremond were highly influential and were frequently copied by later chartmakers, including Kitchin and Roux.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1730
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: France
BODY OF WATER: Mediterranean
CONDITION: Very good.
Paper only very slightly tanned but strong with good platemark. Strong impression.
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 9
" x
6 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 4
PRICE: $300
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