Map/Chart > Florida
The Peninsula and Gulf of Florida or New Bahama Channel with the Bahama Islands.
The chart was originally produced in 1775 for inclusion in Thomas Jeffereys atlas, 'The West-India atlas: or, a compendious description of the West-Indies.
| Technical Information |
| Reference: |
A412 |
| Date |
1794 |
| Hydrographer/Surveyor/Artist: |
Thomas Jeffreys |
| Size Of Original: |
w 27" x h 22" |
| Paper Type |
Omnijet Superior Matt Graphic 180gsm |
Description
The chart is very much in the style of
other charts produced by Jeffreys at the time and indeed this chart
adjoins with the northern boarder of Jeffreys' chart 'The Island of Cuba
with part of the Bahama Banks and the Martyrs' (see Heritage Charts
A504). This is the later, 1794, edition of the chart published in
London by Laurie & Whittle.
Jefferys also includes on the chart a great deal of
hydrographical information around the Florida Peninsular and around the Islands
of the Bahamas. This includes soundings
and channels. He also marks sandbanks,
reefs currents, anchorages and includes 'rhumb' or 'loxodromic' lines (taken from an initial
bearing it is a line on a sphere that cuts all meridians at the same angle. It
is the path taken by a ship that maintains a constant compass direction). Such lines were only really useful in waters which were bounded by not too distant land fall as they did not take account of the curvature of the earth.
The
inclusion of ships to illustrate the passage through the New Bahama Channel not only decorates the chart but it also highlights the economic importance of the area
at the time.
Jeffreys includes some cartographic detail on the mainland
Florida Peninsula which includes land relief shown pictorially, rivers, lakes
and fresh water sources. Interestingly
enough he includes no settlements, towns or ports other than that of St.
Augustine on the north east coast.
Overall, the chart does everything one would want as an
arm-chair sailor back in London. It is
informative, artistic and historic, but one wouldn't want to navigate by it.
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