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1886 British Admiralty Nautical Chart or Map of Long Island Sound
LongIslandSound-admiralty-1886$375.00
Title
America East Coast. Long Island Sound Sheet 2 New Haven, Oyster Bay etc.
1886 (dated) 26.25 x 39.5 in (66.675 x 100.33 cm) 1 : 104000
1886 (dated) 26.25 x 39.5 in (66.675 x 100.33 cm) 1 : 104000
Description
This is an 1886 British Admiralty nautical map of Long Island Sound. Illustrating from Hogshead Point on the New England coast and from Jacob Point on Long Island to Throg's Neck, the chart boasts impressive coastal detail.
A Closer Look
Bays, harbors, points, and other features along the New England and Long Island coastlines are rendered with precision. Numerous depth soundings appear throughout Long Island Sound, along with notations marking currents and navigational hazards, such as shoals. Inland detail includes labeling towns and illustrating the road network, but in general, only reaches as far as the surrounding bays and harbors. The thick black line on the New England side of Long Island Sound is the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. Several lighthouses along both coastlines are labeled and highlighted in yellow.Coastal Views
Six coastal profile views are situated along the bottom border: Stratford Point Lighthouse from two different perspectives, the Eaton's Neck Lighthouse, the Sand's Point Lighthouse, the Captain's Island Lighthouse, and the Old Field Point Lighthouse.New York City Inset Map
The inset in the upper left details New York City from Throg's Neck to Hell Gate and south along the East River to New York Harbor and Gowanus Bay. Manhattan's iconic street grid is apparent with Broadway cutting a clear a diagonal line across the island.Publication History and Census
This chart was created by the British Admiralty from United States Coast Survey charts and first published in 1861. It was updated several times (which was common practice for coast surveys as updated information was submitted to the issuing agency), and the present example reflects updates through January 1886. Several records for the Admiralty Long Island Sound chart appear in OCLC, but they all postdate the present example.Cartographer
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...
Condition
Good. Even overall toning. Exhibits some soiling. Closed tear extending eighteen inches into printed area professionally repaired on verso. Tear extends from right border through southern Long Island Sound. Closed margin tears professionally repaired on verso.