St. Christophe (St. Kitts): Bellin 18th Century Hand Colored Map, 1746

Description

Jacques Bellin's copper-plate map of the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts entitled "Carte De De l'Isle St. Christophe Pour servir … more Jacques Bellin's copper-plate map of the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts entitled "Carte De De l'Isle St. Christophe Pour servir á l'Histoire Genle. des Voyages Par M. B. Ingr. de la Marine", published in Paris in Prevost's "L'Histoire Generale des Voyages".
The West Indies island of Saint Kitts was known in the 15th century as "San Cristóbal", as it was discovered by Christopher Columbus during his second voyage in 1493 and he named it in his own honor. It was called St. Christophe in the 18th century and later became St. Kitts. It is part of the arc of the Windward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles. It lies east of Puerto Rico, while Nevis is located to the south-east and the Dutch island of St. Eustatius is to the north-west. It was originally colonized by France and England, and to a lesser extent, the Netherlands. It is the largest island the federation it currently forms with Nevis, forming the State of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The map is printed on laid, chain-linked, watermarked paper. There are wide margins all around, particularly the right and lower margins, and two vertical folds, as issued. There is mild irregularity of the left edge and a few small spots, but the map is otherwise in excellent condition. less