Lot 200: Joseph F. Wallet Des Barres (English, 1722-1824),

Joseph F. Wallet Des Barres (English, 1722-1824), "Gulph of Mexico", c. 1780, hand-tinted copper engraved map, from The Atlantic Neptune, showing the coast from the Apelousa River eastward to Pensacola, sheet 33 1/4 in. x 46 in., attractively float mounted and framed.

Note: Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres was the most Noted and skilled producer of coastal charts in late 18th-century England. At the close of the French and Indian War, he had been sent to America by the British Admiralty to survey the coasts of the Maritime Provinces. These provinces, recently acquired from France, had never been adequately mapped, and Des Barres spent the following ten years constructing a series of charts of unparalleled accuracy and schematic beauty, of crucial importance for military maneuvers on the Northeast Coast. Ultimately the project was expanded to include the entire Atlantic and gulf coasts of North America. At the outset of the Revolution, Des Barres was assigned the task of compiling his work and that of others surveying the coast and shorelines of North America into an atlas that would enable the British Navy and Merchant Marines to navigate safely in North American waters. Des Barres returned to England in 1774 and began to prepare his charts for publication. The collected charts appeared as the Atlantic Neptune, a magnificent work consisting of about 275 views, plans and charts, which is considered the first great marine atlas of the eastern seaboard, and by many, the most splendid collection of charts ever published.