Le Neptune François, recueil de cartes marines publié en 1693 The French navy ministry establishes the ‘Dépôt des cartes et plans, journaux et mémoires concernant la navigation’ which is the first official wide-purpose Hydrography Office in the world, but not the prototype of a dedicated organisation. Its purpose looks like the one assigned to the School of Sangres (1420-60) by Prince Henry the Navigator (†1460) according to the facts and legends about his method of explorati

World Map by John Seller John Seller, 39 years old, a compass maker and a writer, already famous in the world of navigation for his handbook entitled Practical Navigation (1669), newly appointed as the Hydrographer to King Charles II, publishes the first volume of a collection of charts and of sailing instructions named The English Pilot . This is a very useful work, if far from being original. One must say that many Seller’s charts actually are Dutch ones copied with English