LESSER ANTILLES,- Carte réduite des îles Antilles au nord du 13me. degré de latitude.. / TURKS-CAICOS-BAHAMAS,- Carte réduite des debouquements de St. Domingue..

Two engraved maps together on one large sheet, the first covering the Leeward Islands from Puerto Rico to Barbados, the second showing the Turks and Caicos Islands and southern Bahamas Islands with the Northern half of St.Domingo .

Appointed deputy member of the Royal Navy Academy in 1771, Verdun took command of the frigate La Flore, for a new scientific voyage. This expedition, organized by the Academy of Sciences, aimed to test new chronometers and instruments to improve the measurement of longitudes at sea. The scientist Borda, second officer, the astronomer Pingré, and the painter Nicolas Ozanne, were travel compagnons. Leaving Brest in 1771, the Flore passed to the Canary Islands, Cadiz, the West Indies, Newfoundland, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Iceland, and finally to Copenhagen. The account of the voyage was published in 1778 under the title: “Voyage made by order of the King in 1771 and 1772, to various parts of Europe, Africa, and America; etc ... "

In 1776 Verdun was made a Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Louis. The same year, on the occasion of a scientific campaign in the Baltic on board the Tamponne et le Compas, he made a stopover in Saint Petersburg, where he was introduced to Catherine II, Empress of Russia. He returned there in 1777, the Czarina having sent for him to consult him on the organization of the French Navy, which she wished to take as a model for the Imperial Russian Navy.

Appointed ordinary member of the Royal Navy Academy in 1777, Verdun was given a command in the West Indies. He was promoted to captain of the navy in 1779.

The Dépôt de la Marine, known more formally as the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine, was the central charting institution of France. The centralization of hydrography in France began in earnest when Jean-Baptiste Colbert became First Minister of France in 1661. Under his watch, the first Royal School of Hydrography began operating, as did the first survey of France’s coasts (1670-1689). In 1680, Colbert consolidated various collections of charts and memoirs into a single assemblage, forming the core of sources for what would become the Dépôt.

The Dépôt itself began as the central deposit of charts for the French Navy. In 1720, the Navy consolidated its collection with those government materials covering the colonies, creating a single large repository of navigation. By 1737, the Dépôt was creating its own original charts and, from 1750, they participated in scientific expeditions to determine the accurate calculation of longitude.

In 1773, the Dépôt received a monopoly over the composition, production, and distribution of navigational materials, solidifying their place as the main producer of geographic knowledge in France. Dépôt-approved charts were distributed to official warehouses in port cities and sold by authorized merchants. The charts were of the highest quality, as many of France’s premier mapmakers worked at the Dépôt in the eighteenth century, including Philippe Bauche, Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, Rigobert Bonne, Jean Nicolas Buache, and Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré.

The Dépôt continued to operate until 1886, when it became the Naval Hydrographic Service. In 1971, it changed names again, this time to the Naval and Oceanographic Service (SHOM). Although its name has changed, its purpose is largely the same, to provide high-quality cartographic and scientific information to the France’s Navy and merchant marine.

Reference: https://www.loc.gov/item/78691477/