National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 66 | December 2003


Recent Acquisitions for the Library’s Map Collection

Nicolas Sanson (1600–1667), Mappe-mondeou carte generale due globe terrestre, representee en deux plan-hemispheres ... , (Amsterdam, 1695?). Map Collection, RM  3707
Nicolas Sanson (1600–1667), Mappe-mondeou carte generale due globe terrestre, representee en deux plan-hemispheres ... , (Amsterdam, 1695?). Map Collection, RM  3707

With the coastlines highlighted by a delicate  blue wash, the Library’s recent acquisition of a manuscript map of Bass Strait presents both an attractive and intriguing insight into the early charting of this territory.

Titled A chart of Bass’s Strait with the Traks of the Harbinger Captn. John Black in Decr. 1800 & the Margaret Captn. John Buyers in Jany. & Feby. through the Straits in their Passage toward Port Jackson, the manuscript map is undated but appears to have been created some time between 1803 and the 1820s by a French cartographer directly from Flinders’ own work while the latter was imprisoned on Mauritius.

Research suggests that the map may have been copied from an original work by Flinders which had been given to a M. Marçon, Garde du Génie to Henri de Freycinet during his period as a governor of the nearby Ile de Réunion, by the American consul on Mauritius, according to a later, annotated inscription at the head of the map: Copie de la minute originale dressée par M. Flinders, qui lui a été donnée par le consul américàin a l’Ile de France.

Flinders’ map of Van Diemen’s Land and Bass Strait was published by Aaron Arrowsmith in June 1800. However, this chart failed to record King Island in the western half of the Strait and the details of a number of smaller islands to the northwest of Flinders Island. The map documents the tracks and discoveries of the second and third ships to traverse the Strait: the Harbinger under John Black in 1800 and the Margaret under John Buyers in 1801. Black actually discovered and named King Island in honour of the governor, which Flinders noted in his journal for 21 April 1802.

Le globe celeste ou l' on voit, 1022, etoiles en 48 constellations, 12 dans lezodiaque et 36 hors du zodiaque, etc.(Amsterdam, 1695?), Map Collection, RM 3706
Le globe celeste ou l' on voit, 1022, etoiles en 48 constellations, 12 dans lezodiaque et 36 hors du zodiaque, etc. (Amsterdam, 1695?), Map Collection, RM 3706

Interestingly, Flinders does not acknowledge Black’s discovery of the island on the official maps of the circumnavigation published by Nicol of 1 February1814, but charts the island from his own survey in 1802–03. Consequently the map appears to be the first thorough survey of the Strait, acknowledging the two succeeding voyages following Flinders initial survey of 1798. The chart also provides evidence of the transfer of sensitive information from the English to the French cartographic establishments at the height of the Napoleonic wars.

A chart of Bass's Straits with the traks of the Harbinger Captn. John Black in Decr.1800 & Jan. 1801 and theMargaret Captn. John Buyers in Jany. & Feby. 1801 ... Map Collection, RM 3708
A chart of Bass's Straits with the traks of the Harbinger Captn. John Black in Decr.1800 & Jan. 1801 and theMargaret Captn. John Buyers in Jany. & Feby. 1801 ... Map Collection, RM 3708

Flinders’ discovery and initial charting of Bass Strait was perhaps the most important maritime survey of Australia following settlement. It opened up shipping routes and resolved the puzzle of the association of Tasmania with the mainland first identified by the Dutch nearly two centuries before. This map establishes the western limit of the Strait and documents the initial surveys, which Flinders incorporated into his own charting.

Another recent acquisition, comprising a pair of miniature maps of the world and celestial hemispheres, provides a sharp contrast to the manuscript map above. Based on an earlier 1660 world map by the important French cartographer and geographer, Nicholas Sanson, the maps appear to be the work of a minor Dutch cartographer Jan Luyts and were probably published around 1695.

The terrestrial map, titled: Mappe-monde ou carte générale du globe terrestre, features twin hemispheres set against a backdrop of clouds with allegorical scenes along the bottom. Australia’s representation is typical of the post-Tasman style showing Dutch knowledge of the coast up to Tasman’s voyage of 1644. The accompanying celestial map, Le globe celeste, is presented in a similar format, displaying the northern and southern skies as twin hemispheres against a background of clouds without the accompanying figures. Forty-two of the known constellations are depicted as figures, typical of the style of the day and making it easier to view and locate them.
—Maura O’Connor, Map Curator

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Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: mbrooks@nla.gov.au