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French copperplate-engraved map of Cape Horn and the Strait of Magellan (tip of South America with C

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Maps, Atlases & Globes Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:250.00 - 375.00 USD
French copperplate-engraved map of Cape Horn and the Strait of Magellan (tip of South America with C
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French copperplate-engraved map of Cape Horn and the Strait of Magellan (tip of South America with Chile, Argentina) by Jacques Nicolas Bellin titled "Carte Reduite De La Partie La Plus Meridionale De L' Amerique. Pour servir a l' Histoire Generale des Voyages, Par le Sr. Bellin Ingenieur de la Marine, de la Societe Royale de Londres," 1754, hand colored. 7" x 10" (image size 8" x 6-1/2"). Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer and navigator in the service of Charles I of Spain, became the first European to navigate the Strait of Magellan in 1520 during his global circumnavigation voyage. Cape Horn was discovered and first rounded in 1616 by the Dutch. The waters around Cape Horn are notoriously hazardous, with strong winds, large waves, strong currents and icebergs from the Antarctic. In 1832, Charles Darwin narrowly escaped death when his ship HMS Beagle almost wrecked rounding the Horn. More than 10,000 seamen and over 800 ships are wrecked in these waters. Engraved in 1754 and published in Jacques Nicolas Bellin's 1764 Le Petit Atlas Maritime Recueil De Cartes Et Plans Des Quatre Parties Du Monde. In 1721 at age 18, Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772), was appointed chief cartographer to the French Navy and in 1741, he was named official hydrographer to the French king. A rare and desirable map. Nicely hand colored and on fine period handmade laid paper.