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1647 Dudley Nautical Chart of the Pacific w/ Coast of California
AmericaPacificCACoast-dudley-1647$7,000.00
Title
Carta prima generale d'America dell'India Occidentale e Mare del Zur.
1647 (undated) 20.5 x 28 in (52.07 x 71.12 cm) 1 : 9350000
1647 (undated) 20.5 x 28 in (52.07 x 71.12 cm) 1 : 9350000
Description
This magnificent sea chart was prepared by Robert Dudley c. 1647 for publication in his Dell'arcano del mare, one of the most important maritime atlases of all time. It is most notable for being the earliest published sea chart to focus on California.
The chart discusses divergent opinions on the correct latitude of Cape Mendocino, which it plots at about 43º N latitude, but includes a note stating: 'Some believe Cape Mendocino is at 41º N Latitude.' The actual latitude of the cape is just above 40º N.
Among the important coastal cities and bays are 'P. dell nuovo Albion scoperro dal Drago C. Inglese' (Point New Albion discovered by the English Captain Drake), 'P. di Moneerei' (Monterey Bay; plotted just below 37º N latitude), the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara, and 'P. di S. Diego' (San Diego; plotted just below 35º N latitude.
A large Quivira - the legendary city said to possess enormous wealth - which by this time had captured the imaginations of Europeans for over a century, and would persist on maps for the rest of the 17th century, is placed inland.
A Closer Look
The chart adopts a rare geographical scope extending from Central America to northwestern South America, including both a detailed depiction of the West Indies and South Florida, as well as an inset of the coast of California. It offers a wealth of coastline information, including place names, shoals, currents, and winds. This is especially true in the West Indies around Cuba and off the Florida coast. The title of the chart is found in a simple, elegant cartouche in the interior of Peru.California Coast
The large inset of California is important in and of itself. The map is curious for its mixture of Spanish and Portuguese toponymy and for the appearance of an enormous and fictitious bay labeled 'Golfo Profondo,' together with a note: 'This gulf has recently been reported as very large but has not been well explored.' At the north end of the gulf is 'Capo Engaño,' the Cape of Disappointment, so named because it was at this latitude that Spanish explorers expected to find the north end of the Island of California.The chart discusses divergent opinions on the correct latitude of Cape Mendocino, which it plots at about 43º N latitude, but includes a note stating: 'Some believe Cape Mendocino is at 41º N Latitude.' The actual latitude of the cape is just above 40º N.
Among the important coastal cities and bays are 'P. dell nuovo Albion scoperro dal Drago C. Inglese' (Point New Albion discovered by the English Captain Drake), 'P. di Moneerei' (Monterey Bay; plotted just below 37º N latitude), the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara, and 'P. di S. Diego' (San Diego; plotted just below 35º N latitude.
A large Quivira - the legendary city said to possess enormous wealth - which by this time had captured the imaginations of Europeans for over a century, and would persist on maps for the rest of the 17th century, is placed inland.
California as an Island?
Dudley is ambiguous as to the insularity of California. While a right angle and jutting eastward line immediately above Cape Mendocino suggests he is following the Briggs model Island of California, Leighly points out that Dudley's map follows the nomenclature of the Daniell map, which is thought to have been based on the official map of Sebastián Vizcaíno's 1602 voyage, which did not posit an island.Publication History and Census
This chart was prepared by Englishman Robert Dudley, then residing in Florence, and was engraved by Antonio Francesco Lucini c. 1647 in Dell'arcano del mare. This map is scarce, only being independently cataloged in the OCLC among the holdings of the University of Michigan and the Biblioteca Nacional de España, while the entire Dell'arcano del mare is somewhat more widely distributed, though still quite rare.CartographerS
Sir Robert Dudley (August 7, 1573 - September 6, 1649) was an English explorer and cartographer, the publisher of the Dell’Arcano de Mare, one of the greatest nautical atlases of all time. He was the illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I) and Douglas Sheffield, the widow of John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield. In 1594, Dudley led an expedition across the Atlantic, with the intent of harassing Spanish merchantmen. His expedition met with a series of misfortunes, but successfully returned to England the following year. In 1596, Dudley joined an expedition led by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, against Cadiz. He served as the commander of the Nonpareil, and was knighted for his conduct in the capture of Cadiz. In 1603, Dudley made an attempt to establish his legitimacy at court and gain several inheritances, after being (possibly erroneously) informed that his parents had been secretly married. No concrete proof of the marriage could be furnished, thus the judgement was handed down against him in May 1605. Dudley left England in July of the same year, with his lover and cousin Elizabeth Southwell, who was disguised as his page. They married in Lyon in 1606 having received a papal dispensation. The couple settled in Florence, where Dudley began using his father’s title, Earl of Leicester, and his uncle’s, Earl of Warwick. In Florence, Dudley designed and built warships for the arsenal at Livorno and became a naval advisor to Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1607, James I revoked Dudley’s travel license once ordered that he return to provide for his deserted wife and family. Dudley refused, was subsequently labeled an outlaw, and his estate was confiscated. By far Dudley’s most important work was the Dell’Arcano del Mare (Secrets of the Sea). His most celebrated achievement, is the atlas of sea charts of the world which accompanied the work. This maritime atlas was the first nautical atlas of the entire world in print, the first made by an Englishman, the first to show prevailing winds and currents, and the first to use the Mercator projection throughout. More by this mapmaker...
Antonio Francesco Lucini (January 1, 1610 - 1661), a.k.a. Anton, was an Italian engraver and printmaker. Lucini was born in Florence born in 1605. Lucini initially studied engraving with Stefano della Bella (1610 - 1664) under Jacques Callot (c 1592 - 1635), who lived in Florence from 1612 to 1621. He is recorded in 1616 as Callot's assistant in Florence. After 1621, he joined flowed Callot in Nancy to continue his training. He returned to Florence sometime before 1631, when he published a series of plates on the Great Siege of Malta. He is best known in cartographic circles as the engraver for Sir Robert Dudley's seminal maritime atlas Dell'Arcano del Mare (Of the Mysteries of the Sea), published in Florence in 1645 - 1646. The 200 engraved plates and 146 charts which Lucini produced for Dudley occupied 12 years occupied 12 years of his life and consumed some 5000lbs of copper. The engravings exhibit Lucini’s masterful craftsmanship and are outstanding examples of Italian Baroque engraving. Indeed, while Dudley was a master chartmaker, it is Lucini's virtuoso engraving and fine calligraphy that most define Dudley's work. Learn More...
Source
Dudley, R., Dell'Arcano del Mare, (Florence: Francesco Onofri) 1647.
Dell’Arcano del Mare (Secrets of the Sea) is a six volume 17th century maritime encyclopedia by English nobleman Sir Robert Dudley (1573 - 1649). It is considered to be one of the most important maritime atlases of all time, the first of its kind in print: the first sea atlas to treat the entire world (not just Europe), the first by an Englishman, the first to illustrate prevailing winds and currents, and the first to universally employ a Mercator projection. The charts themselves are notable for being all new works, created by Dudley based upon a lifetime of collecting maritime data. All of the roughly 130 known charts in the Dell’Arcano del Mare were engraved in the Italian baroque ethic by Antonio Francesco Lucini, a Florentine master engraver. It is said that the work took Lucini 12 years and consumed more than 5000lbs of copper. It was published in Florence between 1645 and 1646 in six folio volumes. Another edition was issued in 1661 but contained fewer charts.
Condition
Very good. Trimmed margins and some centerfold discoloration; fine, crisp engraving. Expert repairs.
References
Wagner, H. R., The Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America to the Year 1800, #350. cf. Leighly pp. 36-7; Wendt, Plate 10. OCLC 879247783, 431588327.