1843 Blachford Blueback Nautical Chart or Map of the English Channel

A stunning, enormous, and rare 1853 nautical chart or maritime map of the English Channel by Robert Blachford, considered by some to be the father of the Blueback Chart.

A Closer Look

Centered on the English Channel, the map covers from western Ireland to the French coastline and from St. Georges Channel to Brest. The body of southern England is filled with profile sketches of important ports and dangerous passages. In addition, the areas of visibility for most important lighthouses and lightships are indicated. There are several smaller inset maps detailing important harbors, including Ushant, Havre de Grace, Cherbourg, Falmouth, Downs and Margate, Plymouth, Cork, and the Silly Islands. The chart exhibits copious pencil annotations throughout, illustrating that this was working sea chart used shipboard. The present chart exhibits the classic highly embellished style that makes early blueback charts so highly desirable.

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 warp 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. 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

This map was first issued in 1835, with updates published in 1841, 1842, and 1843. The OCLC lists another chart of the same name dated 1827, but this may be a different chart, as we have not been able to acquire an image. Verified examples of this chart are located at only the Library of Congress and at the University of California Berkeley.