1815 Blankensteiner Blueback Nautical Chart or Map: Helsinki to St. Petersburg

A stunning 1815 Danish nautical chart or maritime map of the Gulf of Finland from, roughly Helsinki, Finland to St. Petersburg, Russia. This chart was published in Denmark by Johan Georg Blankensteiner. It covers the entire Gulf of Finland with as well as some of the surrounding seas. There are four inset charts and illustrations of 14 lighthouses as well as rhumb lines and depth soundings throughout.

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 chart is exceedingly scarce and we have been able to identify but one other example, at the Bibliothèque Sainte Geneviève, Paris. Owned jointly by Geographicus and Vetus Carta.