JEFFERYS, Thomas (1719-1771)
Martinico, Done from Actual Surveys and Observations, made by English Engineers whilst the Island was in their Possession
London: Printed for Robert Sayer, 20 February, 1775. Engraved map, uncoloured, with engraved title, key, compass rose, latitude and longitude border, scale bar, and inset plan of Cul de Sac Royal. Relief shown by hachures and shading, coastal depths by soundings. Sheet size: 21 3/8 x 28 1/2 inches.
A striking and richly detailed map of Martinique at the height of its colonial importance. Jefferys’ engraving is both visually compelling and unusually informative, making it one of the most desirable eighteenth-century maps of the French Caribbean.
Martinique is presented here under its eighteenth century English name Martinico as both a strategic island and a working colonial economy. The title states that it was made from surveys and observations by English engineers while the island was in British possession, referring to the brief British occupation after the capture of Martinique in 1762 and before its return to France. The engraving is rich with mountainous interiors rendered with dense hachuring, particularly in the north around Mont Pelé and through the broken central ranges. Roads, rivers, settlements, parishes, coastal points, bays, and anchorages are carefully named throughout the island. Among the principal places shown are St. Pierre, Le Carbet, Case Pilote, Fort Royal, La Caravelle, Cul de Sac Robert, Cul de Sac François, Cul de Sac du Vauclin, Cul de Sac Marin, Ste. Anne, and the Salines. The southern and eastern coasts are especially full of hydrographic information, with shoals, reefs, small islands, channels, and soundings marked in detail. The key makes the map particularly valuable as a document of Martiniques plantation geography. Jefferys distinguishes sugar works powered by cattle mills and water mills, and marks anchorages for large vessels separately from those suited to boats and smaller vessels. The inset plan of Cul de Sac Royal, the harbour of Fort Royal, now Fort de France, gives the map further importance. It enlarges the islands principal harbour, showing Fort Royal, Pointe des Nègres, Ilet aux Ramiers, La Grosse Île, Les Petits Fonds, Trou au Chat, Petit Fond, Cul de Sac à Vache, reefs, shoals, and numerous depth soundings. A note near Fond Guédon records an English landing point, directly connecting the inset to the military operations that produced the survey information. The inset makes clear why Fort Royal was so important: it was a defended colonial capital, a deep harbour, and a key point for any British attempt to attack, occupy, or supply the island. Thomas Jefferys was one of the leading English cartographers of the 18th century. From about 1750, he published a series of maps of the Americas, that were among the most significant produced in the period. As Geographer to the Prince of Wales, and after 1761, Geographer to the King, Jefferys was well-placed to have access to the best surveys conducted, and many of his maps held the status of "official work." Jefferys died on 20th November 1771, but Robert Sayer (in partnership with John Bennett) 'having acquired the sole property of the Plates' and other material relating to the work, 'minutely followed' Jefferys' plans for The West India Atlas although Sayer does note that additional work was done using various sources to ensure that the information was up to date.
See also: D. Gestetner "Thomas Jefferys': West-India Atlas, 1775" in MapForum, issue 7 (2005), pp.40-48 & issue 8 (2005), pp.30-35; Phillips 2699.
Item #42746
Price: $1,800.00