Carte de la Partie Orientale de la Nouvelle France ou du Canada by BELLIN, Jacques Nicolas [1703-1772] - 1744

First edition. Scarce pre-French & Indian War map of Canada, from Newfoundland to Lake Ontario and including the Northern portion of New England. Size to neat-line: 22-1/4 x 16-1/2 inches. 35 rotted on it's side on the left side border outside the neat line confirming it is a first edition in good condition. "Debruslins Sculpsit" engraved below the neat-line at the bottom right.

Reference: Kershaw 490.

"of particular interest to Bellin's first state of the map in 1744, are some of the notations that adorn the map and inform the viewer. Bellin notes that this map is extremely different to all other maps that would have preceded it because of his access to manuscript material in the Dépôt des Carte, Plans et Journaux de la Marine as well as from firsthand accounts form Jesuit missionaries. In other words, Bellin, who sorted and compiled works from various sources, was better known as a "géographe de cabinet" as opposed to those who plied their craft in the field. One is also struck by the amount of native nomenclature on the North shore of the St-Laurence. Bellin goes so far as to locate Tchichemanitououitchapi, the place where the native Holy Spirit resides. It should be noted that the North and the interior of the American continent, where many native communities lived, was of particular importance to New France as it was the source from which the fur trade stemmed." quoted from University of Maine finding aid

Bellin's fascinating map of the St-Lawrence is thus a great reminder of the strategic importance that the region had both militarily and economically in the early days of European colonization. It also provides an important reminder of the role that Native communities played in this development.

The map was produced for Charlevoix's 1744 Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle France.