Jacques Nicolas Bellin Map of the Great Lakes, 1755

Jacques Nicolas Bellin Map of the Great
Lakes, 1755
Overview of the Collection
Creator Bellin, Jacques Nicolas, 1703-1772
Title Jacques Nicolas Bellin Map of the Great Lakes
Dates 1755
1755 1755
Quantity 0.125 linear feet, (1 item)
The map is 43 x 53 cm.
Collection Number MSS 105
Summary Map titled Partie occidentale de la Nouvelle France : ou du Canada
par Mr. Bellin, ingénieur du roy de la marine pour servir à l’intelligence
des affaires de l’etat present en Amerique, communiquée au public
par les Héritiers de Homan, also known as the 1755 "Bellin Map,"
made in the last years of French control of New France.
Repository Boise State University Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
1910 University Drive
Boise ID
83725
Telephone: 208-426-3958
[email protected]
Access Restrictions Collection is available for research.
Languages French
Biographical Note
Jacques Nicolas Bellin is mentioned as hydrogapher to King Louis XV in The Mapping of America by
Seymour I. Schwartz and Ralph E. Ehrenberg (Harry N. Abrams, 1980).
Content Description
The 1755 "Bellin Map," titled Partie occidentale de la Nouvelle France : ou du Canada par Mr. Bellin,
ingénieur du roy de la marine pour servir à l’intelligence des affaires de l’etat present en Amerique,
communiquée au public par les Héritiers de Homan, is a well-known map of Canada, made in the last
years of French control of New France. The map covers the area from Lake Superior to Kaskaskia and
from Delaware Bay to the Mississippi River. It shows a few towns, missions, forts, Indian villages and
tribal territory, rivers and lakes, portages, and early place-names.
The map was published in Nürnberg in 1755. The relief is shown pictorially and the scale is about
1:3,500,000.
Jacques Nicolas Bellin Map of the Great Lakes, 1755
http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv68133
1
Use of the Collection
Preferred Citation
Jacques Nicolas Bellin Map of the Great Lakes, Boise State University Special Collections and
Archives.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Gift of Mary Spencer Bradford in 1990.
Related Materials
There are two version of the map. The version held by Albertsons Library Special Collections and
Archives is the version that also appears as the front endpaper for Men and Meridians: The History of
Surveying and Mapping in Canada, volume 1, by Don W. Thomson (Ministry of Supply and Services
Canada, 1966; reprint 1984).
Another version was published as Plate 97 in The Mapping of America by Seymour I. Schwartz and
Ralph E. Ehrenberg (Harry N. Abrams, 1980). This version has a shorter cartouche. Also, Lake Erie
and Lake Ontario are oriented slightly differently.
The 1755 map is an updated version of Bellin's map of 1745, also titled Partie occidentale de la
Nouvelle France.
Custodial History
The map was presented to Mr. Edward Spencer as a gift on his retirement as dean of the Lawrence
Technical Institute in Southfield, Mich. in the mid-1940's. Edward Spencer is the father of the donor,
Mrs. Mary Bradford.
Find Related Collections
Subject Terms :
Canada--Maps--Early works to 1800
Great Lakes Region (North America)--Maps--Early works to 1800
Homann Erben (Firm)
New France--Maps--Early works to 1800
Jacques Nicolas Bellin Map of the Great Lakes, 1755
http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv68133
2