Carte des Costes de Portugal et de Partie d'Espagne

Beautiful chart of Portugal orientated with north to the left, showing the coast of Portugal together with a part of the coast of Galicia and the south west of Spain to the mouth of the Straits of Gibraltar.


This is the last map of the first volume of the Neptune Francois and as far south as the geographical coverage went until the publication of Volume III in 1700; with the exception of the large chart of the Mediterranean by Romeyn de Hooghe issued on Volume II. It is based on French naval charts and bears large insets of the roads and harbours of Lisbon and Cadiz. The upper part of the map shows the coast of Galicia from Cape Finistere to the Portuguese border.


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 Armees 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 colour. [SP2114]

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