Carte de L'Archipel de La Recherche a la partie Occidentale de la Terre de Nuyts. . .

Terre de Nuyts is the name that was formerly given in French to a coastal region of Australia, while the latter was still called New Holland. Roughly from the Leeuwin Land to the west and the Napoleon Land to the east.
This is the edition of the extremely rare atlas "Neptune des côtes orientales et du grand archipel d'Asie", published in 1807.
The atlas was a supplement to the atlas series published by Hydrographic office and prepared by C.F Beautemps-Beaupré, who is now regarded as the father of modern French hydrography. The maps for the Neptune edition are printed on very thick and larger paper. The usual text in upper right corner is not there and but instead, "N°. 308" is engraved, and instead of Bouclet's name, the words "Prix Deux Francs" are in the bottom. Very rare.

Joseph Antoine Bruny-d'Entrecasteaux was born at Aix in Provence in 1739 and died at sea in 1793. He entered the marine service at the age of 15, and soon won praise for his work as a hydrographer. He became governor of the islands of Mauritius and Bourbon.
Later in 1791 he was put in charge of the expedition to search for la Perouse. During his voyage, he explored, mapped and named many places on the coast of Australia. Baie de la Recherche, Port d'Esperance, Detroit d'Entrecasteaux etc.
The atlas was published in Paris in 1807.

The charts prepared for d'Entrecasteaux, mostly by Beautemps-Beaupre, were of very high quality, and Matthew Flinders, the English explorer and hydrographer, called them the finest specimens of marine survey. The contribution made by d'Entrecasteaux to the mapping of the southern coast of Australia was indeed considerable.



Beautemps-Beaupré is regarded as the father of modern hydrography.
In 1779, Napoleon charged him with the hydrographic reconnaissance of the Dunkirk coast and various other works.


Reference: Tooley, R.V, The Mapping of Australia and Antarctica pg 73, ref 550.