Important map of the North Pacific integrating the latest information from the Russian Academy of Sciences as well as French cartography of North America.

Geographically, the map covers the eastern Siberian coast and the Kamchatka Peninsula on the Asian side and Alaska, British Columbia and Washington State, Oregon and northern California as far south as San Francisco on the North American coast. The map labels that area as “Nouvelle Albion” and locates the much contested site of Francis Drake’s supposed landing on the west coast of North America during his circumnavigation. Further east, the map shows the Great Lakes, which are based on Bellin’s own map first published in Charlevoix’s memoirs of New France; there is a fantastical network of lakes and waterways west of Hudson’s Bay leading to a proposed link to the mythical “River of the West”. This geographical portrait was a piece of conjecture hoping to establish the existence of the Northwest Passage.

Despite this section of conjectural geography, Bellin’s map did provide an enormous step forward in the mapping of the Pacific Northwest. It departed sharply from the previous great geographical authority of the region, Claude Nicholas de L’Isle, who returned from the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg with a map showing a version of the North American coastline which caused a sensation at the time. In 1750, de L’Isle issued a map which showed a vast Bay on the west coast, named “The Bay of the West”. Together with this Bay, the map also marked several substantial rivers leading into the western hinterland some of which were presumed to reach Hudson’s Bay, again surmising the existence of the Northwest Passage.

As the Empire of Russia was well known to have conducted several expeditions in that region, particularly under the leadership of Vitus Behring, de l’Isle’s map became an immediate authority. However, its existence did not go unchallenged. The Academy in Russia were horrified at the assumptions and inaccuracy of de L’Isle’s map and his use of their name in association with its geography. They commissioned a German map maker, Gerhard Muller to issue a new map of the same region with access to their archives. Muller’s map differs greatly from de l’Isle’s.

This map by Bellin is the first French map to use Muller’s version of the Pacific Northwest. As well as excluding most of de l’Isle’s geographical details, it provides a far more accurate state of the current level of exploration of the coast, showing areas which had been mapped, and areas which are conjecture by the thickness of the engraved lines. It also marks the routes of Vitus Behring and later his second in command, Aleksei Chirikov, who took over command of the expedition after Behring had died.

The first issue of this map was in 1766 when it appeared in vol 2 of Bellin’s “Hydrographie Francoise” issued for the French Admiralty. This example is identical but a slightly later edition. The characteristic stamp on the lower left corner identifying it as a map of the Depot de la Marine now bears the additional letters “R F” which stand for Republique Francaise, signifying that France was now a Republic, hence after the French Revolution. It is most likely this map was issued about 1795. [USA9775]