1828 / 1849 Horsburgh Blueback Nautical Chart of Timor and Maluku Islands, Indonesia

A significant blueback nautical chart of a portion of the East Indies (Indonesia) including Timor, the Maluku Islands, and the Banda Sea, originally prepared in 1826 by James Horsburgh and here updated to 1849. As one of the great hydrographers of his day, Horsburgh's charts of the East Indies were among the first detailed nautical charts of these waters, providing essential information for navigators, particularly those working in the China trade.

A Closer Look

This chart covers a portion of the East Indies in what is now the central part of Indonesia. At the time, these waters were by no means well understood or charted, as evidenced by some speculative and blank coastlines here, making Horsburgh's work invaluable to ships transiting back and forth to southern China for trading. Including the islands of Timor, Buru, Seram, Halmahera (Gillolo), and many others in the Maluku and other nearby groups, the chart focuses primarily on the waters of the Banda Sea. Information on depths, hazards, anchorages, currents, coastal features, and other essentials for the navigator are included in great detail. The best routes through the region's straits depending on the time of year and direction of travel are traced. At right, on the western end of New Guinea, a series of small illustrated views appear, depicting, from various angles, Po. Popa, Po. Pisang, Kekik, the Lawn Isles, Fairway Rock, Xulla Bessey, and Lomblen Peak.

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 chart was originally created and published by James Horsburgh in 1826, with engraving by John Bateman, and here has been updated to 1849. Cataloging of Horsburgh's 'Eastern Passages to China' chart series is somewhat inconsistent, but regardless of edition, the OCLC records examples of this chart among the institutional collections of the British Library, the National Library of Australia, the Library and Archives NT (Northern Territories), the National Library Board of Singapore, the University of California Berkeley, the University of Michicgan, the Library of Congress, and Harvard University, and it is scarce on the private market.