The map was designed and printed for l’Ordre de la Félicité. This short-lived Order was a quasi-Masonic secret society established in France in the early 1740s by Louis-Joseph Scipio La Garde, Marquis de Chambonas
The map depicts a large Island of Felicity, with the Savage (or Wild) Sea to the north and the Favorable Sea to the South. Dominating the island is the fortified castle of Perfect Happiness. Vessels that successfully avoid the Rocks of Caprice, the Banks of Temptation, the Rocks of Prudery and other navigational hazards can anchor at one of several ports (Wealth, Beauty, Complaisance, Virtue, Equality, and of course Felicity), each with its own route to the castle of Perfect Happiness. Once on land, however, the voyagers are still not entirely safe: From the Port of Beauty, for example, the Path of Coquetry leads to a cesspool deep in the forest surrounding the castle of Perfect Happiness. Likewise, one must take care not to wonder off the Road of Talents, lest one become lost in the Swamp of Pleasures.
