To Capt. P. Heywood R.N. as a testimony of gratitude for his liberal and voluntary assistance in nautical research and as a tribute of regard and esteem this chart intended as an accompaniment to the Book of directions for navigating to, from and in the East Indies.

1811 Horsburgh Blueback Chart of the Indian Ocean and Coasts

Date d'édition : 1811

A propos de cet article

Very good. Manuscript annotations. Scattered soiling and wear. Size 37 x 25 Inches. This 1811 chart of the Indian Ocean was engraved by John Walker and produced by James Horsburgh, one of the most accomplished hydrographers of the early 19th century, and is addressed to Peter Heywood, himself an expert hydrographer with the Royal Navy. A Closer Look The chart shows various suggested routes through the notoriously difficult-to-navigate middle portion of the Indian Ocean, depending on a ship's destination and the time of year in which it was traveling. Soundings are provided along the coasts of India, Ceylon, and the Chagos Archipelago. Coastal mountains are also indicated to aid the navigator. Handwritten annotations in French are present at bottom-center and towards the bottom-left, tracking the progress of a ship through the southern Maldives and near Ceylon. This route was especially difficult, given the hundreds of small islets, reefs, and other features both above and below the surface of the water. Horsburgh notes which channels are relatively safe or dangerous, as well as some of the ships that had wrecked there in the past. Captain Peter Heywood The dedication of this chart to Heywood is noteworthy because of Heywood's remarkable life. He had been aboard the famed H.M.S Bounty as a midshipman during its mutiny as a very young man, and his role in the mutiny is highly uncertain. According to the deposed Captain Bligh, young Heywood was one of the ringleaders of the mutiny, but other crew members' accounts differ. In any event, Heywood lived as a fugitive for two years in Tahiti, cohabiting with a local woman with whom he had a child and adopting local customs, before being arrested by the Royal Navy and sentenced to death. But, likely due to his family's wealth and connections, he was pardoned by King George III and went on to have a respectable career as a naval officer and hydrographer, which brought him into contact with James Horsburgh. Blueback Charts Blueback nautical charts began appearing in London in the late 18th century. Bluebacks, as they came to be called, were privately published large format nautical charts known for their distinctive blue paper backing. The backing, a commonly available blue manila paper traditionally used by publishers to wrap unbound pamphlets, was adopted as a practical way to reinforce the low-quality paper used by private chart publishers in an effort to cut costs. That being said, not all blueback charts are literally backed with blue paper. The earliest known blueback charts include a 1760 chart issued by Mount and Page, and a 1787 chart issued by Robert Sayer. The tradition took off in the early 19th century, when British publishers like John Hamilton Moore, Robert Blachford, James Imray, William Heather, John William Norie, Charles Wilson, David Steel, R. H. Laurie, and John Hobbs, among others, rose to dominate the chart trade. Bluebacks became so popular that the convention was embraced by chartmakers outside of England, including Americans Edmund March Blunt and George Eldridge, as well as Scandinavian, French, German, Russian, and Spanish chartmakers. Blueback charts remained popular until the late 19th century, when government subsidized organizations like the British Admiralty Hydrographic Office and the United States Coast Survey began issuing their own superior charts on high quality paper that did not require reinforcement. Publication History and Census Horsburgh's charts are as rare as they are notable. Two other examples of this chart are known, held by the National Library of Singapore and the National Library of Australia; however, those charts are dated to 1809 and 1833, respectively, making this the only known example of this edition of the chart. The handwritten annotations mentioned above strongly suggest that this chart saw actual use on a (French) ship, entirely plausible as Horsburgh's charts were the gold standard of the time. References: OCLC 224345602 (dif.

N° de réf. du vendeur IndianOcean-horsburgh-1811

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: To Capt. P. Heywood R.N. as a testimony of gratitude for his liberal and voluntary assistance in nautical research and as a tribute of regard and esteem this chart intended as an accompaniment to the Book of directions for navigating to, from and in the East Indies.
• Date de parution: 1811
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • INDIA-NEPAL-MAPS