Depot de la Marine
1804

Plan du Port de Plymouth

Plan du Port de Plymouth publie par ordre de son Excellence le Vice-Amiral Decres Ministre de la Marine et des Colonies

DESCRIPTION: Neat chart of the harbor and town of Plymouth, England published in the 12th year of the French Revolution (1804). With shaded topographical details, numerous soundings, defensive structures, and navigational aids. Single profile view of the entrance to Plymouth Sound at top right.

Named features include Ram Head, Redden Point, Point Penlee, Saltash, Tamer River, Line River, East Anthony, Stoke Damerel, Plymouth, Sutton Pool, Mount Batten, Catwater, Causand Bay, Shagstone, Mewstone, Yealme River, Mill Bay, Drakes Island, and many more.

Black and white copperplate-engraved chart was published by France's Depot de la Marine. With the circular anchor stamp of the Depot. Original price was one and one-half francs.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.

CREATOR: Depot de la Marine

PUBLICATION DATE: 1804

GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United Kingdom

BODY OF WATER: Plymouth Sound

CONDITION: Very Good. A fine specimen and strong impression. Clean and very bright on heavy chain-laid, watermarked paper (a large bird/eagle).

COLORING: None

ENGRAVER: E. Collin

SIZE: 17 " x 23 "

ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 64

PRICE: $860

ADD TO CART

This web site provides security by Rapid SSL

Similar items:

740	Antique Nautical Chart of South Cornwall Including Plymouth Antique Dutch nautical chart of a portion of South Cornwall, England coastline extending from Falmouth in the southwest past Plymouth Sound as far east as Bigbury-on-the Sea. Not . . .	Details	1730	van-Keulen--Gerard	Antique-Nautical-Chart-of-South-Cornwall-Including-Plymouth	Antique Dutch nautical chart of a portion of South Cornwall, England coastline extending from Falmouth in the southwest past Plymouth Sound as far east as Bigbury-on-the Sea. Noted features include Pendennis Castle, St. Mawes Castle, Fay Castle, Palmere, Fovey, Rame Head, Trematon Castle, Eddystone Light, and the Citadel at Plymouth. Published ca. 1730 from Amsterdam by Gerard van Keulen with a title cartouche written in English, and Dutch. <br></br> Gerard van Keulen (1678–1726) was the son of Johannes van Keulen (d. 1715), founder of the Dutch publishing house that produced "the largest and finest marine atlases in Holland". Gerard possessed mathematical, scientific, and engraving skills that enabled him to build the firm started by his father into a substantial and respected business venture. (C. Koeman. "The Sea on Paper: The Story of the Van Keulen's and their 'Sea Torch'." Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd. Amsterdam, 1972).
3675	Antique chart of the harbor, town, and fort at Plymouth, England Fine mid eighteenth-century French navigation port plan and map of Plymouth, England. By Jacques-Nicolas Bellin. A key with seventeen items provides information on the precise loc . . .	Details	1764	Bellin--Jacques-Nicolas	Antique--chart-of-the-harbor--town--and-fort-at-Plymouth--England	Fine mid eighteenth-century French navigation port plan and map of Plymouth, England. By Jacques-Nicolas Bellin. A key with seventeen items provides information on the precise location of important governmental, ecclesiastical, and commercial sites as well a provides the location of major gates or access-control locations. This is a larger-scale plan covering a smaller area than Bellin's related smaller-scale "Carte de la Port de Plimouth" of Plymouth Sound. <br></br> From Bellin's <b>Petit Atlas Maritime.</b> Tome IV No 11.
3676	Antique chart of Plymouth Sound in England Attractive small French navigation port plan and map of Plymouth Sound and the town of Plymouth, England. By Jacques-Nicolas Bellin. Numerous depth soundings, anchorages, shallow . . .	Details	1764	Bellin--Jacques-Nicolas	Antique-chart-of-Plymouth-Sound-in-England	Attractive small French navigation port plan and map of Plymouth Sound and the town of Plymouth, England. By Jacques-Nicolas Bellin. Numerous depth soundings, anchorages, shallow areas, and navigational hazards are noted throughout this fine antique chart. <br></br> From Bellin's <b>Petit Atlas Maritime.</b> Tome IV, Number 10.
4940	Manuscript chart of the island of Diego Garcia French manuscript chart of the island of Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia, a coral atoll, is the largest and southernmost member of the Chagos Archipelago, in the central Indian Ocean. . . .	Details	1809	Anonymous	Manuscript-chart-of-the-island-of-Diego-Garcia	French manuscript chart of the island of Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia, a coral atoll, is the largest and southernmost member of the Chagos Archipelago, in the central Indian Ocean. <br/><br/> Dated on or near May 2, 1809 when the French Governor of Mauritius Decaen granted rights over the island to Cayeux, the Didier brothers, and Lapotaire. Lapotaire was reported to have over 100 slaves working his copra plantation in 1809. The map clearly shows those three land holdings, with Didier at the southern end of the island. (Cawley, Charles. Colonies in Conflict: The History of the British Overseas Territories. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2015.) <br/></br/> "Portuguese explorers discovered Diego Garcia in the early 1500s. The islands remained uninhabited until the 18th century when the French established coconut and copra plantations with the help of slave labor. Diego Garcia became a possession of the United Kingdom after the Napoleonic wars, and from 1814 to 1965, it was a dependency of Mauritius." (Source: https://www.cs.mcgill.ca)
5161	Antique French Chart of the Chagos Islands with Diego Garcia Engraved antique nautical chart of the Chagos Island Archipelago, in the Indian Ocean, based on surveys of Moresby and Powell of the British East India Company. Published by the F . . .	Details	1870	Depot-de-la-Marine	Antique-French-Chart-of-the-Chagos-Islands-with-Diego-Garcia	Engraved antique nautical chart of the Chagos Island Archipelago, in the Indian Ocean, based on surveys of Moresby and Powell of the British East India Company. Published by the French Admiralty (Depot de la Marine) in 1841 with essential corrections in 1870. <br></br> The Chagos Island lie in the Indian Ocean about 300 miles south of the Maldive Islands. Diego Garcia, a United States military base, is located in the southeastern portion of the Chagos Archipelago. <br></br> Contains the circular anchor stamp of the Depot General de la Marine. With a black over-stamp, partially illegible but believed for "Cartes de la Marine Impériale. Debrie Libraire au Harve, Seul Depositaire." <br></br> Price: two Francs. Engraved by Chassant. Chart number 943.