The West Indies and Central America, mapping the route of Juan Ponce de Le?n as he led the first European expedition to Florida. 

This map originally appeared in Abbee Resnal's "Histoire des Voyages", an extensive multi-volume historical compendium focusing on travel and exploration. The maps were provided by Jacques Nicholas Bellin who used many the archives of the French Admiralty to provide simplified and reduced versions of the maps present there. His access was facilitated by his position as the Hydrographer to the French naval service. As the work celebrated French naval activities, no doubt the use of these charts was done with government approval. 

This map shows the historical voyage of the Spanish 16th century explorer Ponce de Leon, who led the first recorded European expedition to Florida. Geographically, the map is very accurate for the period with the Florida Peninsula having a specific pointed shape peculiar to Bellin, which was later copied by several emulators. 

Coloured. [WIND4407]