This detailed map of Chesapeake, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware (before the Penn and Lord Baltimore settlement, showing Delaware as part of Pennsylvania), and adjacent region features towns, roads, villages, churches, meeting houses, rivers, mountains, inlets, islands, and other details. Released just before the French & Indian War, this is one of three similar maps by Bellin, with the others titled "Virginie" and "Mari-land."
This edition, from the Petit Atlas Maritime, is the rarest of the three, distinguished by its unique title and engraved topographical details, particularly the depiction of the coastline and rivers on the landmass, giving it a three-dimensional quality.
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772) was a key 18th-century mapmaker. At 18, he became Hydrographer to the French Navy and later the first Ingénieur de la Marine of the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine in 1741. As Official Hydrographer to the French King, he led one of Europe's most active sea chart and map production centers.
Bellin's notable works include the Neptune Francois, Atlas Maritime, Hydrographie Francaise, and the 1764 Petit Atlas Maritime with 580 charts. He also contributed maps to Antoine François Prévost's Histoire Generale des Voyages. His high standards and accuracy solidified France's leading role in European cartography, with many of his maps being widely copied.