"Carte de la Louisiane Cours du Mississipi et Pais Voisins...", Bellin, Jacques Nicolas

This interesting map first appeared in the journal of Pierre Francois Xavier Charlevoix, a French Jesuit historian and traveler who traveled throughout the French possessions in North America. The map covers from the Great Lakes through all but the tip of Florida, and from New Mexico and the Rocky Mountains through the eastern seaboard. The information in the west includes the road from Mexico City to Santa Fe and the routes of St. Denis and De Soto through Texas. The Riviere du Nord (Rio Grande) has its headwaters in the upper left corner, only a few miles from the Missouri River. There is great detail of Indian villages, trading agencies, forts, mines, villages, and colonial settlements. Bellin based the map on Guillaume Delisle's landmark map of 1718. While covering the same area, Bellin's map incorporates much new information from Charlevoix and other French explorers, particularly in the depiction of lakes and rivers and additional place names. Sometimes overlooked because of its similarity to Delisle's map, this map occupies an important step in the cartographic history of North America.

References: McCorkle #744.1; MCC-96 #703.

Condition: B+

Issued folding on a bright sheet with faint offsetting and a couple of short edge tears in the bottom right corner that have been closed on verso with archival tape. Numerous tiny wormholes only visible when held to light have been backed with old paper on verso.