DESCRIPTION: Scarce and complete atlas of 37 large-scale 10" x 7" antique engraved Mediterranean port and harbor plans by French hydrographers and galley (galère, Fr.) pilot Henry Michelot and Laurens Bremond.
[ Browse all 37 charts here ]
This 12" x 8" atlas, published ca. 1730 was the culmination of Henry Michelot's career; the result of at least 40 years experience as pilot of the Reale, premier vessel in the galley service of Louis XIV and XV. These charts are influenced by and bear similarities to a set of manuscript charts published by Michelot from Marseille around 1689 but are updated to reflect his cumulative experience over the intervening 40 years. With an elaborately engraved title page. Some charts engraved by Peter Starck-man.
This 290-year old sea atlas contains port plans from France, Italy, and Spain including Barcelona, Antibe, Mayorca, Bay of Naples, Bay of Gibraltar, and Cadiz. Several of these charts (e.g. Cadiz, Gibraltar) were considered to be the most authoritative works of that era and were copied by others including Thomas Kitchin well into the mid 18th century.
For more information on the life and works of Henry Michelot and his business partner Bremond see our brief illustrated biography.
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: Mediterranean
BODY OF WATER: Mediterranean
CONDITION: Good
Pages are slightly age toned- uniformly except title page more browned at far right, as usual. No stains, tears, wormholes, foxing, or damage. Thick, chain-laid paper. Original leather boards (12"x8") , stained and worn; beginning to separate at binding otherwise binding good with tight pages. Impression and platemark strong with good margins as issued. Six compartment spine cracking and missing one compartment.
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER: P. Starck-man
SIZE: 10
" x
7 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 0
PRICE: $6500
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