Plan de la Ville de Londres. et ses Fauxbourgs.
[Map of the City of London and its suburbs]
Paris: Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine [?], 1764
Size (neatline): 17.4 x 22.8 cm / 6.9 x 9.0 in
Size (sheet): 24.1 x 32.4 cm / 9.5 x 12.8 in
Technique: Copper engraving
Colour: Uncoloured
Verso: Blank
Condition: Fine
Very rare plan of London by Bellin
Description
This detailed London city plan is from Jacques-Nicolas Bellin’s Le Petit Atlas Maritime. With close to 600 charts and a strong focus on harbour cities and towns, this atlas is considered the leading publication of its kind at the time it was issued.
The plan is oriented to the east. It shows London and its surrounds from Islington in the north to Newington in the south and from the Isle of Dogs (Marshwal) and Deptford (Depford) in the east to Hyde Park in the west.
A legend with references from a. to m. identifies 12 important landmarks, such as St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Bridge, Charing Cross, and Westminster Abbey.
The plan features a simple compass rose to the upper right. The delicately decorated title cartouche contains a distance scale in “mille toises”, i.e. a thousand fathoms, which equals about 1.8 km or 1.1 miles.
The engraver of the chart is not indicated. However, we believe this to be either J. Arrivet or Jean-Baptiste Croisey.
An insightful plan from a time when London was only a fraction of its current size.
Publication
Le petit atlas maritime : recueil de cartes et plans des quatre parties du monde
Note: Image shows pagination annotation in top right corner (Tome IV No. 5.).
Condition
Fine.
A clear impression on a clean, watermarked sheet. Wide margins. No visible flaws, and no repairs.
Item #: 02764
US $520.00