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1862 British Admiralty Nautical Map of Ireland from Dublin to Wicklow
IrelandWicklowDublin-admiralty-1862$250.00
Title
Ireland. Sheet XVI. Wicklow to Dublin.
1862 (dated) 25.25 x 19.5 in (64.135 x 49.53 cm) 1 : 80000
1862 (dated) 25.25 x 19.5 in (64.135 x 49.53 cm) 1 : 80000
Description
This is an 1862 British Admiralty nautical chart or map of the coast of Ireland from just north of Dublin to Wicklow.
A Closer Look
The chart provides inland detail along with the essential navigational detail. Coverage embraces from the Hill of Howth south along the coast to Wicklow Head. Dublin appears, with a handful of buildings labeled. The Dublin and Wicklow Railway is illustrated by a black line that runs along the coast from Lands End to Wicklow. Depth soundings fill Dublin Bay and the waters off the Irish coast, providing important navigational information. The Bray Bank, Codling Bank, Kish Bank, and other navigational hazards are illustrated as well. Yellow manuscript color marks the Wicklow Head Lighthouse and several lights in and around Dublin Bay and along the River Liffey. Six coastal views are included along the left border, providing mariners with views of what the coast should look like from certain points.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, 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 map was created by the British Admiralty and engraved by J. and C. Walker in 1862. It was first published in 1839 with numerous subsequent editions published. By the Admiralty. We note three cataloged examples in OCLC which represent editions from 1846 (National Library of Wales), 1865 (The British Library), and 1871 (the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee). An example dating from 1876 is part of the collection at the Royal Museums Greenwich.CartographerS
The British Admiralty Office (1795 - Present) or the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office refers to the Branch of the English government that is responsible for the command of the British Navy. In 1795 King George III created the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, known in short as the U.K.H.O., to provide top notch nautical charts to the vast Royal Navy. Prior the founding of the Admiralty the surveying and creation of nautical charts was primarily a commercial venture wherein the cartographer himself, more of than not, actually financed the printing of his own material. The great navigator Cook himself is known to have scrambled for funds to publish his own seminal charts - the most important and advanced of the period. The system of privately funded nautical mapping and publishing left vast portions of the world uncharted and many excellent charts unpublished. King George III, responding significant loss in trade revenue related to shipwrecks and delay due to poor charts, recognized the need for an institutionalized government sponsored cartographic agency - the Admiralty. The first head of the Admiralty, a position known as Hydrographer, was the important cartographer Alexander Dalrymple. Dalrymple started by organizing and cataloging obtainable charts before initiating the laborious process of updating them and filling in the blanks. The first official Admiralty Chart appeared in 1800 and detailed Quiberon Bay in Brittany. By 1808 the position of Hydrographer fell to Captain Thomas Hurd. Hurd advocated the sale of Admiralty charts to the general public and, by the time he retired in 1829, had issued and published some 736 charts. Stewardship of the organization then passed to Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort. It was under Beaufort's administration that the Admiralty truly developed as a "chart making" as opposed to a "chart cataloging" institution. Beaufort held his post from 1829 to 1854. In his 25 years at the Admiralty Beaufort created nearly 1500 new charts and sponsored countless surveying and scientific expeditions - including the 1831 to 1836 voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle. By 1855 the Admiralty's chart catalog listed some 1,981 charts. More by this mapmaker...
John Walker (1787 - April 19, 1873) was a British map seller, engraver, lithographer, hydrographer, geographer, draughtsman, and publisher active in London during the 19th century. Walker published both nautical charts and geographical maps. His nautical work is particularly distinguished as he was an official hydrographer for the British East India Company, a position, incidentally, also held by his father of the same name. Walker's maps, mostly published after 1827, were primarily produced with his brothers Charles Walker and Alexander Walker under the imprint J. and C. Walker. Among their joint projects are more than 200 maps for the influential Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Atlas (SDUK). In addition they published numerous charts for James Horsburgh and the British Admiralty Hydrographic Office, including Belcher's important map of Hong Kong and Carless' exploratory map of Karachi. The J. and C. Walker firm continued to publish after both Walkers died in the 1870s. Learn More...
Condition
Good. Some soiling. Area of loss to left margin no effecting printed image.