Jacques Nicolas Bellin; 1703-1772.
A first rank cartographer, Bellin worked for some fifty years at the French Hydrographic Service (Dépôt de la Marine); which he ran till his death.
In this position he had unique access to prime cartographic data, often used to further his own private business interests. He was succeeded at the head of the service by the very talented, and no less prolific, Rigobert Bonne.
His career was mainly devoted to charting and mapping coast lines, harbors, sea lanes. Most of his publications were related to nautical matters: maps for "Histoire Générale des Voyages"* between 1747 and his death, "Atlas Maritime" in 1751, "Neptune François" in 1753, "Petit Atlas Maritime" in 1764,. for the benefit of the French Navy, merchantmen, and the public at large.
He is known to have used informations from the best fellow cartographers of his time, to complement the in-land parts of his maps, notably: Guillaume de l'Isle and Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville, often giving them credit.
Fame, enormous output and fastidious quality of work, earned him the appointment of "Hydrographer to the King" by Louis XV of France. He was also a member of the Royal Society in London.
* A major work published by Antoine François Prévost d'Exile. The first edition in 1747 was already of an encyclopedic size. A major remodeling was done in the mid fifties, incorporating some two hundred new maps (quite a few drawn by Bellin). Later editions, till 1789, incorporated verbatim other authors travel writings (e.g.: Gmelin's "Voyage au Kamchatka par la Sibérie" was incorporated in volume 25 in 1779).
Carte de de l'Isle St. Christophe.
This small map (12 1/16' X 7 11/16") was prepared for the 1747 "Histoire Générale des Voyages".It was probably printed around 1758 for the expansion of said book.
Several states of this map are known, including the 1764 version issued in the Petit Atlas Maritime, with a corrected title ("Carte de l'Isle de St. Christophe"', instead of the erroneous "Carte de de l'Isle St. Christophe").
Notiice that the earlier colonists were English in the central part, and French in the two extremities.
As a result, the center is organized into parishes (paroisses), while the ends are made up of quartiers (quarters).
The only town of importance: Basse Terre with a fort protecting the settlement and another fort protecting the bay anchorage.
No text on verso.