Carte de l‘Ocean Oriental ou Mer des Indes : pour servir a l‘histoire generale des voyages / dressee par M. Bellin Ingenieur de la Marine
Circa 1764
Later hand-coloured copper engraving on paper
12.5 x 17.75 in (31.8 x 45.1 cm)
Engraved by Jacob van der Schley. Published by E. van Harrevelt et D.J. Changuion 1747-1780, Amsterdam.
This map, which goes from the east coast of Africa to Western Australia, is in Dutch. The tracks that go to Goa along Africa's east coast are displayed. The Dutch established their trading operations in the Indian Ocean, mostly centred on the spice trade, in Goa, a fort city on the west coast of India that was under Portuguese occupation. The Dutch eventually took control of Ceylon, travelled to Malacca, and found the path leading to the Moluccas Islands. Shark Bay is indicated on this map of Australia's west coast.
Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703 - 1772)
Jacques Nicholas Bellin was one of the most significant cartographers of the 18th century.
He was made the French Navy's chief cartographer in 1721 when he was just 18 years old. He was appointed Official Hydrographer of the French King in August 1741 and became the first Ingenieur de la Marine of the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine (the French Hydrographical Office).
The Dépôt was the most active centre for the creation of sea charts and maps during his tenure as Official Hydrographer, and it produced the Neptune Francois (1753), a massive folio style sea chart of France. He also created a number of sea-atlases of the world, including the Hydrographie Francaise (1756-1765) and the Atlas Maritime. These were republished throughout the 18th century and even into the next century when they attained recognition, distinction, and esteem throughout all of Europe.
Bellin also produced smaller-format maps, such as the 580 exquisitely detailed charts seen in the Petit Atlas Français (1763), reissued as Petit Atlas Maritime (1765). He also supplied a number of maps to Antoine Francois Prevost's 15-volume Histoire générale des voyages de l'Abbé Prévost (published between 1746 and 1759), better known as l'Abbe Prevost.
Bellin established exceptionally high standards for craftsmanship and accuracy, helping France take the lead in European geography and cartography. He drew the maps for several important works of his era during the course of a 50-year career, including Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle-France de Charlevoix (1744); Histoire générale des voyages de l'Abbé Prévost (published between 1746 and 1759); Neptune François (1753), Hydrographie Françoise (1756-1765), and Petit Atlas Français (1763) - reissued as Petit Atlas Maritime (1765). He is the most copied cartographer of the 18th century.
On 21 March 1772, Jacques-Nicolas Bellin passed away in Versailles. He is identified as "the first engineer of the navy and the deposit of plans, royal censor of the academy of navy and the royal society of London" on his funeral certificate.
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