Carte des Principales Ports de Mer Bancs de Sable & c qui sont dans le Mer Rouge

Very fine example of Mortier's chart of the principal ports and settlements along the western coast of the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula.


Nine insets detail Portuguese discoveries along the Red Sea coast. Many of these are no longer identifiable but several can be traced to modern settlements. These include the resort of the Mousa Coast on the western side of the Sinai, the Port et Ville de Masua et Arquico or modern Port Massawa in Eritrea, the Port et Ville de Suaquem or modern Suakin in North Sudan and the Isle de Vera Cruz in the Canal ou Detroit d'Abixim is now Perim Island in the Straits of Bab el-Mandab.


The "Neptune Francois" was first issued simultaneously in Paris and Amsterdam by Hubert Jaillot and Pierre Mortier respectively in 1693. The project was highly successful and Mortier developed the Atlas by adding two more sections or volumes to it. The first, Vol II was also issued in 1693 and consisted of a set of charts provided by the noted Dutch artist Romeyn de Hooghe. Collectively these are known as the "Cartes Marines a l'Usage des Armées du Roy de Grande Bretagne" and were originally drawn for William III of Great Britain. De Hooghe was primarily an artist and his charts bear a distinctive pictorial aspect. They have become renowned for their aesthetics, being cited as the most beautiful set of charts ever published. Volume III added in 1700, entitled "Suite de Neptune" concentrated on charts outside of French territory, including maps of the New World, the West Indies, South East Asia and the Indian Ocean among others.


Mortier's edition was a prestige work. Later scholars have found that his book was the most expensive sea atlas produced in Amsterdam up to that time. On the rare occasions that an example of one of the maps in full original colour can be obtained, it is easily perceived why this work is cited as one of the finest and most spectacular atlases ever produced.


Magnificent original hand colour. [AFR6050]

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