1819 / 1827 Norie Blueback Chart / Map of the Cape of Good Hope and Madagascar

CapeGoodHope-norie-1827
$2,500.00
A New Chart From the Cape of Good Hope to the Islands of Madagascar, Mauritus, and c. Shewing the Mozambique Passages, drawn from the Surveys and Observations of Several Distinguished Navigators, Including all the Modern Discoveries. - Main View
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1819 / 1827 Norie Blueback Chart / Map of the Cape of Good Hope and Madagascar

CapeGoodHope-norie-1827

Key passage on the route to India.
$2,500.00

Title


A New Chart From the Cape of Good Hope to the Islands of Madagascar, Mauritus, and c. Shewing the Mozambique Passages, drawn from the Surveys and Observations of Several Distinguished Navigators, Including all the Modern Discoveries.
  1827 (dated)     25.75 x 53.25 in (65.405 x 135.255 cm)     1 : 5200000

Description


This is the 1818 / 1827 edition of John Norie's essential nautical map of the Cape of Good Hope and passages to Madagascar, Reunion, and other Indian Ocean ports. It was a key China Trade chart marking one of the most important and fraught passages on the voyage - rounding Africa and passing through the pirate-filled waters around Madagascar to reach the Indian Ocean.
A Closer Look
Although a blueback chart, this chart is not actually backed with blue paper. Coverage embraces from Angola, around the Cape of Good Hope, East to include West Africa, the Mozambique Channel, the islands of Reunion and Mauritius, and beyond to roughly 87°E. It marks the best passages and features depth soundings where available, mostly around the Cape and Madagascar. The map includes insets of Delagoa Bay, St. Augustine's Bay, Mozambique Harbor, Inhamban Bay, Saldanha Bay, False Bay, Table Bay, Port Beaufort, The River Knysna, Plettemberg Bay, and Port Elizabeth.

This a sailed chart, with partially effaced pencil marks indicating a voyage around the Cape of Good Hope and east of Madagascar towards India. Whalers frequented these waters, and this chart was popular among them, but since the route marked appears direct and does not zigzag, it is likely this was a voyage of trade rather than whaling.
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 to cut costs. That being said, not all blueback charts are literally backed with blue paper, some are unbacked or backed with linen. Moreover, as blueback charts, which were typically composed of multiple sheets, they were designed in a modular fashion, so that multiple charts could be joined to create truly massive custom maps suited for specific voyages. 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 chart was first engraved by John Stephenson and published by John Norie in 1818. This edition was issued with updates to 1827. It is scarce; we see examples in various states at the Clements Library at the University of Michigan, Harvard, the Universitaire Bibliotheken Leiden, and the Biblioteca Digital Luso-Brasileira. We have not been able to verify another example of this, the 1827 edition.

CartographerS


John William Norie (June 3, 1772 - December 24, 1843) was a British teacher of navigation, hydrographer, chart maker, and publisher of maritime manuals active in London, England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Norie was born in Wapping, London, an area long associated with the maritime sciences. Norie's career as a chart maker commenced under the tutelage of William Heather, a prominent purveyor and publisher of nautical charts, pilot books, and navigational tools who took over the firm of Mount and Page in 1765. Heather and Norie were likely acquainted through John Hamilton Moore, another important chart maker with whom both seem to have been associated early in their careers. Heather hired Norie to teach basic navigation at his shop at 157 Leadenhall Street. Under Heather Norie also distinguished himself as a draftsman, completing many of the early charts associated with the Heather firm. When Heather died in 1812 John Norie partnered with George Wilson, a moneyed 'man about town' with little experience in the maritime trades, to acquire the map and chart business at 9500 British Pounds. It proved a good deal for Norie, who retained all copyright privileges and drew 1/4 quarter share of business profits, as well an impressive quarterly salary and, for doing all of the work, 1/3rd of Wilson's share. The firm, referred to as the 'Naval Warehouse' quickly acquired a reputation for quality navigational materials and became a favorite of merchant seamen. It was even referenced in Charles Dickens' classic novel Dombey and Son. In 1819, Norie and Wilson acquired the failing chart business of David Steel, which significantly increased the size, though not quality, of their chart catalogue. With the rise of the British Admiralty and its own maritime chart productions, the business of "Chart Purveyor" in London dramatically changed. Admiralty charts and pilot books, designed for military use, were offered through established intermediaries, like Norie, at bargain prices. Most chart makers of the period found it profitable to use the highly technical Admiralty charts to update their own more decorative vernacular charts. For a brief time this practice proved exceptionally profitable but eventually began to draw criticism. Nonetheless, Norie retired to Edinburgh in 1840 and died a wealthy man in 1843. In 1840 the business passed to a nephew of George Wilson, Charles Wilson, who renamed the firm "Norie & Wilson". William Heather Norie, J. W. Norie's own son, produced few charts, instead pursuing a career in the legal field. Norie & Wilson merged with James Imray's prosperous chart business in 1899, becoming Imray, Laurie, Norie & Wilson, a profitable concern that remains active in the maritime charting industry. More by this mapmaker...


John Stephenson (fl. c. 1790 - 1836) was a British engraver active in the London nautical chart trade in the late 19th and early 19th century. There is some speculation by Worms, Baynton-Williams, and other map scholars, that seem to suggest Stephenson apprenticed with the stationer Charles John Downes. Stephenson engraved for the nautical chart firm of John Hamilton Moore before moving on to the firm of William Heather in 1793. Heather's firm was subsequently inherited, along with Stephenson, by John William Noire. Stephenson's work is characterized by strong lines, elaborate decorative embellishment, and finely-engraved detail, it is commonly associated with John Noire. Learn More...

Condition


Good. Older professional restoration and reinforcement to points where the sheets are joined by publisher (or purchaser). A few minor repaired tears. Some discoloration and fly-spotting at these points.

References


OCLC 1143748834.