Bibliographical Notes on Nineteenth Century British Admiralty Charts

1-3-1984

OTHER ASPECTS OF ADMIRALTY CHART HISTORY

10 The use of other publisher's charts by the admiralty
As well as purchasing the Dalrymple plates, the Admiralty acquired printed sheets and copper plates from commercial publishers. Those cases where the original publisher retained the copper plate and supplied impressions when requested reflect the work of the Chart Committee. This comprised three experienced captains, and it was set up in 1807 to select from the charts privately published in the British Isles those most suitable for use by the Royal Navy. On 10 March 1808, the Committee made its first recommendation, listing 169 charts issued by, among others, Arrowsmith, Dalrymple, Faden, Heather, Laurie & Whittle, Mount & Davidson, and Steel. This, and a further selection of forty-nine charts made on May 26, excluded both the East Indies and the Pacific. Although the Chart Committee's short life probably ended with the dismissal of Dalrymple two days later, on May 28, his successor, Hurd, personally continued the selection of commercial charts. A typical sheet had the following engraved line added along the bottom: Approved by the Chart Committee of the Admiralty'. It is not clear, though, how many were amended in this way.

The Admiralty also acquired a number of existing copper plates from London chart publishers. This gave the Hydrographic Office complete control over their publication and enabled the charts to be updated with information supplied by Admiralty surveyors. On occasions, the purchase was indicated on the chart itself. The Rio de Janeiro chart, for example, carries the engraved announcement, 'Bought of W. Faden & Published at the Hydrographical Office of the Admiralty May 1823'. Sometimes, however, the Hydrographical Office imprint replaced that of the original commercial publisher, leaving no trace of the chart's non-Admiralty origin. Peter Heywood's chart of the River Plate, for instance, was first published by Faden in 1817 and republished with a new imprint by the Admiralty in 1826. Some Faden charts and Arrowsmith's Guyana sheet only betray their status as Admiralty charts because of the added price and chart number. Similarly, when the East India Company's charts were taken over in 1861, the publication details were not altered. The Admiralty chart of Socotra, No. 5, still carries the inscription, Published by James Horsburgh ...'.

11 Becker's 'patent omnigraphy process'
Instead of the usual engraver's imprint of J. & C. Walker, the 1849 chart of the Gulf of Fonseca has the wording, 'F. P. Becker, Sct The Figures & Letters Engraved by his Patent Process'. Francis P. Becker is known to have developed what he called the 'Patent Omnigraphy Process'. This involved a series of punches, which avoided the need to engrave by hand repeated elements such as lettering, hill and town symbols, &c. Admiralty charts with their dense soundings might seem to have lent themselves to this process. In fact, very few Admiralty charts were produced by Becker. The Hydrographer, Beaufort, mentioned on 8 February 1849 a continuing series of trials of the Becker process. Ten years later, on 28 February 1859, the then Hydrographer, Washington, noted that only two small charts had been engraved by Becker during Beaufort's tenure (i.e. not later than 1855). However, the Fonseca chart, dated September 1849, is of large format. Since Washington himself permitted Becker to engrave a chart of Heligoland, it seems that four different charts were produced for the Admiralty by that method. The reason for the rejection of Becker's process was clearly spelled out by Washington, who noted that there was no saving of time or expense and that the engraving was not up to the usual standard.

Ceuta at the entrance to the Mediterranean, is the oldest permanent European conquest in Africa, though it has had various changes of overlord. This chart derives from a short-lived British occupation in 1810. Still bearing the imprint of William Faden and the original publication date of 1813, this impression is, nevertheless, one of those republished by the Admiralty – as the discreet additions of price and chart number reveal. The latter feature allows this example to be dated no earlier than 1839 (By courtesy of Robert Douwma Prints & Maps Ltd).

12 Views
In the nineteenth century, the Hydrographic Office issued a number of sheets of views, which were allocated chart numbers in the 1839 chart catalogue. Dalrymple was a great advocate of these views, which provided a useful means of identifying landfalls or prominent fixing marks. Many of the view sheets came from Dalrymple's East India Company series, and they can be dated in the same way as his charts (see 1, above). Eventually, the separate sheets were phased out as more views were included on the charts themselves or incorporated into Admiralty Sailing Directions.

Pitcairn Island is celebrated because Fletcher Christian and other mutineers from the Bounty settled there in 1790. When Frederick Beechey visited Pitcairn in 1825, only one of the mutineers was alive to greet him. But the 'Point Christian' and 'Bounty Bay' recorded by Beechey, and the welcoming group of islanders depicted in the view, provide a permanent reminder of that strange episode, since this original manuscript was closely imitated for the 1829 engraved chart which is still in use today (Reproduced with permission of the Controller of HM Stationery Office and of the Hydrographer of the Navy).

13 Admiralty chart catalogues
The charts are arranged in geographical sections and listed in coastal sequence. The regularly amended printed chart catalogues contain invaluable information as to the length of time during which a particular chart remained available, its price at different periods, and (usually) the dates of amendments with a note of the surveyor responsible.

The chart size is also indicated. A full-size Admiralty chart is printed on double elephant paper (DE), giving a printed area of approximately 64 x 96 cm. The full sheets would be subdivided into half sheets (termed DE/2), thirds (DE/3), quarters (DE/4) and eighths (DE/8). These sizes were first noted in the 1839 catalogue, which included, in addition, the abbreviation 'A', for Atlas-size.

The earliest extant chart catalogue dates from 1825. There is clear documentary evidence, however, that a volume was produced in 1821, even though none has survived at the Hydrographic Department in Taunton, nor in any of the copyright libraries. On 30 November 1820 Hurd was instructed to compile a catalogue; on 28 June 1821 he forwarded a copy to their Lordships; and two days later an engraved Notice was issued, explaining that the charts could be obtained from Faden and Arrowsmith, 'from whom also may be had Catalogues of the said Charts, stating the retail price of each Article.' (No examples of this engraved Notice have come to light but the original draft survives in the Public Record Office, in ADM 1/3461 – the box relating to Admiralty business for 1821).

The full list of nineteenth century chart catalogues is as follows:

1821	(no copy yet found)
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1832	(arranged in sections with an index)
1839	(chart numbers appear for the first time)
1841
1846
1847
1849
1852
1855
1857
1860
1862
1864
1866
1868
1869
1870
1872
1875
1877
1879	annually to 1885 (the 1885 catalogue was dated 31 July 1885 and the 1887 catalolgue was corrected to 31 December 1886, which makes it unlikely that an 1886 catalogue was issued)
1887	thereafter annually to the present (with a combined volume for 1934-35 and 1944 omitted)

14 Hydrographers of the navy

Alexander Dalrymple (1795-1808)
Captain Thomas Hurd (1808-1823)
Rear Admiral Sir William E. Parry (1823-1829)
Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (1829-1855)
Rear Admiral John Washington (1855-1863)
Vice Admiral Sir George H. Richards (1863-1874)
Captain Sir Frederick J. O. Evans (1874-1884)
Rear Admiral Sir William J. L. Wharton (1884-1904)

References:

Vice Admiral Sir Archibald Day, The Admiralty Hydrographic Service, 1795-1919 (London: H.M.S.O., 1967), and see also the authorities cited in the December 1983 issue. p. 33.

The authors would like to acknowledge helpful comments on the Dalrymple section from Andrew Cook, Librarian, India Office Library and Records.

COPYRIGHT March 1984 Tony Campbell, All rights reserved.
No portion of this article nor the accompanying illustrations can or may be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.