The Destruction of the French Fleet at Quiberon Bay 1759

Brittische Übermacht zur See wieder Franckreich Ao. 1759... Superiorite Britannique par Mer contre La France l'An 1759...

This map is a contemporary depiction of events leading to the decisive Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759, at the height of the Seven Years’ War. 

The British had maintained a tight blockade of Brest harbour, but the French fleet broke out under cover of foul weather. The British gave chase, and the ensuing destruction of the French fleet ended any threat of a French invasion of Great Britain and seriously compromised French attempts to resupply their forces in Canada.

Mapmaker Tobias Conrad Lotter inherited half of the business established by his father-in-law, Matthäus Seutter. Assisted by his three sons (including Matthaus Albrecht Lotter, who engraved this map), he established his own firm in 1758. Over time he took his share of Seutter’s copper printing-plates but also continued to engrave his own.

Condition & Materials
Copper engraving, printed area measures 47.5 x 48 cm. Original hand colour, paper thinning and restorations to centrefold, a handful of pinprick wormholes. Text in German and French, including numbered key in left and right hand borders, blank verso.