Rigobert Bonne; 1729-1793.
Bonne, a trained mathematician, was appointed Hydrographer
to the King. He took over the responsibility of the French
hydrographic institute ("Dépôt de la Marine") after the death
of Bellin in 1772. He followed in the steps of the french
school of cartographic detail and geographic accuracy. As
such he produced, often in collaboration with other mapmakers,
a large number of sea charts. His name is generally associated
with a type of equal area projection he often used after 1757.
Of note, his 1776 "Atlas Moderne". But he is most well known
for the wealth of maps he prepared for Guillaume Raynal's
"Atlas de toutes les parties connues du globe terrestre" (1780),
and for Nicolas Desmaret*'s "Atlas Encyclopédique" (1787,
re-issued in 1827). " Desmaret: of engineering fame for the
first recorded design of a tunnel between France and England
in 1751.
Isles de Cuba et de la Jamaïque.
This map (13 5/8" X 9 ¼") was most probably issued in Desmaret's
1787 "Atlas Encyclopedique".
It is derived from an earlier and somewhat smaller version
that Bonne had drawn for the 1780 "Atlas de toutes les parties
connues du globe terrestre". Its striking character stems
from the finely detailed coastlines, for the two main islands,
but also for their surrounding archipelagoes of keys and islets.
Mountain ranges are also better represented than in preceding
maps, and help understand the pattern of rivers.
As a throwback to earlier mapping conventions, Bonne depicts
the principal urban centers and missions with a church icon.
Note on top of the map, the longitude is given with respect
to Ferro Island (westernmost Canary) as it was then commonly
accepted (even though it was usually given east, not west
as is the case here). While at the bottom, the longitude is
shown west of the Paris meridian.
No text on verso.
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