Marc Albert Cormier was kind enough to tell us the history of the archipelago of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon through his maps: from that of Juan de la Cosa in 1500 to the French map of 1763, that of Jacques-Nicolas Bellin and the engineer Fortin was created by Jacques L’Hermite in 1693.
The first map to suggest the silhouette of the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon dates back to 1500, in the person of the Spanish explorer Juan de la Cosa. We distinguish a country that might be the south of Newfoundland and further down a group of islands that would be Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.
I always say that the first map depicting the archipelago is Juan de la Cosa’s map, which is in the Naval Museum of Madrid.
Marc Albert Cormier, historian
Since that of Jacques L’Hermite in 1693 The BNF lists a history of the archipelago’s maps. Mainly charts from harbor masters who were passing through. Drawings sometimes a bit vague for easy identification.
Also read: A new podcast dedicated to the history of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
It must be said that according to Marc Albert Cormier, reading a chart was not accessible to all navigators at that time. They often even relied on simple coastal profiles.
In 1763, the year of the return of the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, we find two much more accurate maps. One is signed by the British James Cook, the other by the French cartographer Jacques Nicolas Bellin.
Marc Albert Cormier, founding historian of the site Grandcombier.com, has agreed to share with us the results of his work on the subject.
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