Description
copper engraving map from ‘Histoire Generale des Voyages’ , no. 3, vol. 10 in 4, p. 377; vol.4 in 8, p. 285; based on Father Pedro Murillo de Velarde’s map, the ‘Queen of all Philippine Maps’.
This coloured map — as issued — captures the complex insular geography of the Visayas and Mindanao with remarkable fidelity to its Murillo Velarde prototype. Major islands such as Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, and Samar are delineated with their principal settlements and coastal features, whilst Mindanao is shown with its interior lakes and river systems, reflecting the inland knowledge gathered by Spanish missionaries. An elegant rococo cartouche in the lower left quadrant frames the title and attributes the work to Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703–1772) in his capacity as Ingénieur de la Marine. Bellin was among the most important and prolific mapmakers of the 18th century; appointed hydrographer to the French Navy in 1721 at the age of 18, he later became Official Hydrographer of the French King and the First Ingénieur de la Marine of the French Hydrographic Office, turning the Dépôt into the centre for publishing major sea charts such as the Neptune François’, the ‘Atlas Maritime’, and the ‘Hydrographie Françoise’. Off the western coast of Palawan, a fascinating note hints at the limits of contemporary navigation, warning of numerous islands of different sizes in the area, “whose extent, number, and situation are unknown.” By disseminating Spanish Jesuit surveys through popular French travel collections, maps like this played a crucial role in bringing the remote archipelago into broader European geographical consciousness.
