L'Empire de La Chine Pour Servir a l'Histoire Generale des Voyages. [Eighteenth Century Jacques-Nicolas Bellin Map of China].

Over the course of a 50-year career, French hydrographer and geographer Jacques-Nicolas Bellin produced many maps of particular interest to the Ministère de la Marine. . He also produced a number of sea-atlases of the world, e.g., the Atlas Maritime and the Hydrographie Francaise. These gained fame, distinction and respect all over Europe and were republished throughout the 18th and even in the succeeding century. Bellin set a very high standard of workmanship and accuracy thus gaining for France a leading role in European cartography and geography. Many of his maps were copied by other mapmakers of Europe.