A rare map. Examples of the ‘La Petite Atlas Maritime’ normally bear 581 maps. Three examples recorded bear 582, the additional map being this one bound as the fourth map in the third volume. These are located in just the single third volume in the Nordenskiold Collection in Helsinki, an example at the Library of Congress and one fine atlas currently in our possession. It focuses on the Russian discoveries in North West America and shows the tracks of Bering & Tchirikow. This map falls in to the rich vain that is the De L’Isle – Buache De Fonte controversy. Their cartography was refuted by the important Muller map of 1754 which incorporated the new discoveries of Bering and Tchirikow. Its most recognisable feature is the alluded peninsula form of Alaska. This would be the model for the region until Cook updated the cartography. Despite this he still included the mythical Sea of the West. This version published in in 1764 by Bellin takes Muller’s cartography but improves upon it removing the mythical Sea of the West. Instead he places a legend which states that he does mark the ‘pretended voyages of de Fonte’. Falk (1983) 1764-2; Kershaw 1118; Nordenskiold Collection 1 no. 10; Phillips 638 & 3508.