Recueil des principaux plans, des ports, et rades de la mer Mediterranee, Marseille, 1764: FIRST EDITION - CONTEMPORARY HAND-COLORED

First Edition of The most complete and accurate Pilot Book and nautical charts of XVIII century

All plates contemporary hand-colored

Roux, Joseph.Recueil des principaux plans, des ports, et rades de la mer Mediterranee estraits de ma carte en douze feuilles dediee a Mons.gr le Duc de Choiseul Ministre de la guerre et de la marine gravee avec privilege du Roy par son tres humble serviteur Joseph Roux hidrographe du Roy. A Marseille, 1764.

8vo oblong, quarter vellum binding on hand coloured paper, f. [1-title page], 121 [plates], pp.2 (index), engraved title page by Laurent.

121 engraved plates representing the plans of the main harbours and havens of the Mediterranean sea including coastline and main buildings, anchorages, sea depth, lighthouses, fortifications, best approach directions, main obstacles all handcoloured by a contemporary hand.

The Recueil des principaux plans, des ports can be considered the most detailed and accurate Portolan of its time. Meant to be used by sailors during navigations was edited by Joseph Roux just after the printing of his Carte de la Mer Mediteranee en Douze Feuilles, printed in the same year in Marseille, (containing 12 fine engraved double-page and folding maps that join to create a large wall map of the Mediterranean)

The portolan contains 121 maps of the main ports of the Mediterranean, from Europe to Africa, showing important points of the Mediterranean coast, harbors, gulfs and various shelters, and the shallow and deep points of the sea in detailed drawing.

Among the others we find:

Alicante, Alger, Alicante, Athènes , Alexandrie, Barcelone, Cadix, Collioure, Calvi, Corfou, Gibraltar, Gênes, Livourne, Malaga, Malte, Marseille, Naples, Oran, Porto-Vecchio, Palerme, Tanger, Toulon, Tripoli, Tunis, Venise

as well as the passage between Corsica and Sardinia, the Dardanelles and different maps of islands as the Gulf of Venice and Sainte Maure.

Roux portolan had an incredible success but despite it was reprinted until the nineteenth century all the editions are rare and only few copies of any editions survived since the intense use of the book on ships during navigation.

There were other issues of this edition printed in the same year but with a lower number of maps (52, 67, etc).

Joseph Roux was born in 1725 in Marseille. His father, Joseph Roux "l'Ancien" (1682-1742) opened in 1708 an hydrographic shop in the port of Marseille, under the sign of La Boussole crowned, founding the largest dynasty of French naval painters and naval instruments manufacturers.

Joseph took over the family business becoming an hydrographer and he was also the first of the Roux dynasty to paint and draw nautical charts and portolans, gaining the title of Hidrographe du Roy (Hydrographer of the King) in 1764