1719 Michelot-Brémond Chart of the Island of Sardinia

This is a rare 1719 Henri Michelot nautical map of the island of Sardinia, Italy. Michelot was active in the Mediterranean Sea for many years, and his charts benefit from his expertise in those waters - making them among the finest available at the time of publication. Accordingly, coastal features are abundantly named, depth soundings are marked for the island's anchorages, and coastal landmarks such as towers and hills are indicated pictorially. The famous salt flats of Cagliari and the Oristano lagoon are marked as well.

A Superb Engraving

The chart is beautifully executed, as is typical of the engraver Pieter Starckman. Sea areas are embellished with rhumb lines and six compass roses. Coastal topography is indicated by hachure, and delicately shaded stippling marks shallows. Cities appear pictorially. The scales, given in French and English leagues and in miles, are shown as if on a table with navigational tools. The cartouche is very grand, flanked by frolicking mermen and mermaids, and decorated with coiled plumb lines, armaments, and flags. It is surmounted with the arms of the Duke of Orleans (with the bar sinister, a reference to the illegitimacy of the dedicatee.)

A Fascinating Dedicateee

The chart is dedicated to the Chevalier d'Orleans, General of the French Galleys - this was Jean Philippe (1702 - 1748), the illegitimate son of Philippe d'Orléans (nephew and son-in-law of Louis XIV, and regent after the King's death). Jean Philippe was named Général des Galères in 1716, at the time just fourteen, so he was likely initially a figurehead. Later, he was wounded in the 1744 Battle on the Rhine, and by 1746, actively commanded the fleet. At the time this chart was dedicated, the sixteen-year-old Jean Philippe was being groomed for the Knights of Malta, which would have prevented him from marrying: his father did not wish his illegitimate progeny to extend their lines. He became an Abbott of the monastic order and undertook several diplomatic missions on behalf of his cousin, King Louis XV. Despite his religious orders, Jean Philippe produced a daughter - Amable Angélique de Villars, born in 1723 to Amable-Gabrielle de Villars, wife of Honoré-Armand de Villares, 2e duc de Villars (by whom she had no issue).

Publication History and Census

This rare chart was engraved by Pieter Starckman and printed by Laurent Brémond in Marseille in 1719. It was issued for inclusion in Nouvelle Carte Generalle de la Mer Mediterranée par Michelot et Bremond, a bound set of fifteen harbor charts of the Mediterranean as well as a complete chart of that sea. The full volume is listed only in the collection of the Jefferson Public Library in Birmingham. The separate map is cataloged only by the Universitats und Landesbibliothek Darm, the National Library of Wales, and the Biblioteca Nacional de Espana. Scarce to the market.