Partie de la Mer du Nord ou se trouvent Les Grandes et Petites Isles Antilles et les Isles Lucayes

Attractive mid-19th century map of the Caribbean, then popularly known as the West Indies.

This decorative copperplate engraved map was originally published in Paris by French royal cartographer Rigobert Bonne in 1750, though the absence of the date in the elaborate title cartouche (present on the original) indicates this might be a slightly later example. The image presents the Caribbean during a period of intense colonial competition between various European powers, each vying for control of valuable natural resources. As described by the Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library;

“Stretching in an arc from southern Florida to the northern coast of South America, these islands have been divided into three groupings by geographers: the Bahamas (Lucayas), low lying islands east of Florida; the Greater Antilles, including the large mountainous islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico; and the Lesser Antilles or Caribbees, small volcanic islands bordering the Caribbean Sea on the east. In comparison to the rest of the Americas, the West Indies were not large in territory, but they were some of Europe’s most prized possessions during the 18th century, primarily because of their ability to produce sugar and other tropical plantation crops.

In the context of these intense political and commercial rivalries, Robert placed the most prosperous French colony of Saint Domingue (Hispaniola) in the center of the map. He also identified the small islands in the Lesser Antilles with the letters “F”, “A”, and “D” to indicate French, English, or Danish control. French possessions at this time included Saint Barthľemy, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Lucia, and Grenada.”

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