Map of Fort Kollam Engraving

A beautiful, 18c engraving, mounted to a silk backing, in an antique wood frame.

Transcription of the information on the back of the piece...

"Description: This is a rare 1756 map of the fort of Kollam, Kerala, on India's Malabar Coast, by French cartographer N. Bellin. Kollam, or as it is otherwise known 'Quilon' or 'Coylan', lies roughly 71km north of Trivandrum, India. Killam Fort was originally built by the Portuguese, however, it was captured by the Dutch in 1671 and by the British in 1795. This map presents beautiful image of the fort completely with palm forests and sailing ships navigating the surrounding seas. Prepared by N. Bellin for issue in the 1757 edition of A. Provost's 'L'Histoire Generale des Voyages'.

Cartographer: Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-March 21, 1772) was one of the most important cartographers of the 18th century. With a career spanning some 50 years, Bellin is best understood as 'geographe de cabinet' and transitional mapmaker spanning the gap between 18th and early 19th century cartographic styles. His long career as Hydrographer and Ingénieur Hydrographe at the French Dépôt des Cartes et Plans de la Marine resulted in hundreds of high quality nautical charts of practically everywhere in the world. A true child of the Enlightenment Era, Bellin's work focuses on function and accuracy, tending the process to be less decorative than the earlier 17th and 18th century cartographic work. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bellin was always careful to cite his references and his scholarly corpus consists of over 1400 articles on geography, prepared for Diderot's Encyclopedie. Bellin, despite his extraordinary success, may not have enjoyed his work, which is described as 'long, unpleasant, and hard'. In addition to numerous maps and charts published during his lifetime, many of Bellin's maps were updated (or not) and published posthumously. He was succeeded as Ingénieur Hydrographe by his student, also a prolific and influential cartographer, Rigobert Bonne.

Source: Provost, A., L'Histoire Generale des Voyages, 1756"

Measurements: 16.5" L x 13.5" H