DESCRIPTION: Original engraved antique nautical chart of the Balearic islands of Ibiza and Formentera which now belong to an autonomous unit and province of Spain. The French chart, from 1730, shows the port and the town of Eivissa or Ibiza Town which is is labeled "Yvice". Other noted points of interest include: Cap Saline, Porto Magno or Galache Fraques, Ile de Tagomago, and Ile Espalmador. Numerous soundings , anchorages, and rocks are noted as well as a water source near the village of St. Hilaire.
This chart is one of 37 port plans published by Henry Michelot and Laurens Bremond ca. 1730 in their atlas of small scale Mediterranean ports: "Recueil de Plusieurs Plans de Ports et Rades de la Mer Mediterranée" . Both Michelot and Bremond were associated with the French Royal Galley Corps. In their business relationship it appears that Bremond provided the retail space in the port of Marseille, France where this chart, as well as other atlases and nautical prints were sold. Michelot, the chief pilot or"Pilote Hauturière" for the Corps des Galeres provided the name recognition and authority needed for the charts to sell widely.
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: Spain
BODY OF WATER: Mediterranean
CONDITION: Fair.
Paper delicate and narrow margins. Small marginal tears. Repairs from back to close two small invisible tears. Some loss to margins, not affecting the image. The bottom left margin is very close to neatline.
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER: Unknown
SIZE: 10
" x
7 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 4
PRICE: $200
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