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Bellin, Jacques Nicolas (1703-72)

Partie Occidental de la Nouvelle France ou Canada

Publication information:
Paris: Bellin, 1755

Copperplate engraving, 49x 62cm.

1. Great Lakes Region--Maps--Early works to 1800.
3. Canada--Maps--Early works to 1800
4. New York (State)--Maps--Early works to 1800.

1. Scale ca. 1:3,500,000




Bellin, Jacques Nicolas

Partie occidental de la Nouvelle France ou Canada, 1755

Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703-72) was one of the best known and most prolific French mapmakers of middle of the eighteenth century. As Hydrographer to the King of France, he had access to the most recent reports and surveys sent from New France. Bellin's depiction of western New York reflects new explorations in the area around Lake Chautauqua and the headwaters of the Allegheny and Genesee rivers. His portrayal of the shoreline of Lake Ontario, which made use of French surveys conducted in the 1720s, is somewhat improved over earlier maps. On the other hand, his representation of the area around the Finger Lakes is somewhat less accurate than on Guillaume de L'Isle's map of Louisiana made in 1718. By the middle of the eighteenth century the Iroquois were unwilling to allow European surveyors into their territory, and consequently French mapmakers had no way of verifying the accuracy of their maps of that area.


Heidenreich, "Mapping the Great Lakes," 92-93.

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Revised 7/25/04