1842 Laurie / Purdy Blueback Nautical Chart of Brazil

A dramatic large-scale 1842 blueback nautical chart or maritime map of Brazil by Richard Holmes Laurie - considered the best and largest general chart of Brazil produced in the 19th century. The map follows the Atlantic Coast of South America from the Para River to Buenos Ayres and the Rio de la Plata.

The Insets

There are seven coastal views, most notably fine city vies of Rio de Janeiro and San Salvador. As well, there are an impressive thirty-one inset maps, from clockwise: 1. Monte Video, 2. Paranagua, 3. Rio Grande de S. Pedro, 4. Maldonado, 5. Cananea, 6. Santos, 7. Marambaya, 8. Roadstead of Cape Sta. Maria, 9. St. Sebastian. 10. Bahia Do Espirito Santo, 11. Port Frio, 12. Porto Macayo, 13. Abrolhos Channel, 14. Pernambuco, 15. The Approaches to Pernambuco, 16. Anchorage of San Joao or St. John, 17. Sketch of the Bank of Manoel Luis, 18. Mouths of the Maranon, 19. Maranham, etc., 20. Port of Maranham, 21. The River Jaguarybe, To Aracati, 22. Rio Para, 23. City of Para and vicinity, 24. The Eastern Entrances Of The Rio Para, 25. Ciara or Seara, 26. Entrance of the River Parahyba Do Norte, 27. The Rio Grande do Norte, 28. Fernando Noronha, 29. St. Catharina, 30. Bahia or San Salvador, 31. Rio Janeiro.

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

This map was drawn by John Purdy and engraved by Alexander Findlay for Richard Holmes Laurie. It was first published on January 1, 1838, with the present example being the second edition, published in 1842. The map is based on unique survey work by Baron Albin-Reine Roussin (1781 - 1854), William Nathan Wrighte Hewett (1834 - 1888), Philip Parker King (1793 - 1856), and Robert Fitzroy (1805 - 1865). Later editions followed in 1853, 1861, 1870, and so on.

Scarce. We note one example of the 1853 edition at the David Rumsey Collection. Other examples seem to follow a major retooling in the late 19th century.