Recueil des plans des Ports & Rades

Recueil des Plans des Ports & Rades de la Mer Méditerranée, de la Mer Noire & de la Mer d'Azof, published in Marseille by Jh. Maistre, is a richly detailed early 19th-century maritime atlas compiling recent hydrographic surveys of key ports, harbours and anchorages across the Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Sea of Azov. The charts were drawn from observations by prominent French naval officers and hydrographers including Gauttier, Monnier, Hell, and Bérard, and also incorporate data from renowned international sources such as Captain W.H. Smyth and Francis Beaufort of the British Royal Navy, Tofino of the Spanish Navy, and earlier voyages including those of Baudin. Its precise harbour plans—often including soundings, coastal profiles, and anchorages—were intended for practical use by navigators and remain valuable and prized by collectors today for their detail and historical insight into early 19th-century seaborne geography.