Maps

China Sea Sheet II . . . 1823 . . . Additions to 1850 (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, etc)

A chart of the northern part of the  South China Sea from Na Trang to Tonkin, the South China Coast, Taiwan and Mindoro, with views. A well used chart navigational chart with various tracks laid down in pencil. One of the tracks reads, "Ship Sarah Chase from Calcutta for San Francisco August 1861".

The publishers imprint reads Published 1st Feby. 1823, by James Horsburgh, Hydrographer to the Hon.ble E.I. Company, according to Act of Parliament - Additions to 1850.  The corrections show Hong Kong Island,  based on the Belcher map of 1843. Also shown are Macao, Whampoa and Canton. These were ports of call for vessels engaged in the China trade.

The need for more accurate charts was forcibly brought home to James Horsburgh on May 30, 1786, when his ship wrecked off the coast of Diego Garcia. For nearly the next twenty years Horsburgh gathered information about the sea lanes travelled by the East Indiamen, both from his own observations - most particularly during a seven year period when he commanded a ship called the 'Anna' - and from the work of others. The value and importance of his observations and the resulting charts was swiftly recognized and they were published over a lengthy period, with revisions being made as they were needed.

Horsburgh was rewarded by being elected a member of the Royal Society in March 1806 and, more importantly from a financial point of view, he was appointed hydrographer to the East Inda Company in October 1810.


Condition Description: Soiling and foxing. but in surprisingly good condition for a well used chart.

Framed