LAND'S END & THE SCILLY ISLES sea chart. Lizard & Penzance. COLLINS 1693 map

Product SKU: P-8-004429

Price £160.00

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[Land's End and Scilly Isles] To the Honble. The Govornor, Deputy Govornor and Committees of the East India Company, this chart is humbly dedicated and presented by Capt. Greenvile Collins Hydrographer to the King. Captain Greenvile (or Greenville) Collins. Collins was an officer of the Royal Navy and prominent hydrographer, who was commissioned by King Charles II in 1676 and appointed by Samuel Pepys (then Secretary to the Admiralty), to chart the coasts of Great Britain. The resulting atlas - Great Britain's Coasting Pilot - was the first original sea atlas to be produced by an Englishman. Prior to publication of these maps, nautical charts were often defective, and there was no centralised system for collecting and disseminating the better maps made by experienced seamen. In 1681, Collins gained the king's preferment to survey the country's coasts. The Admiralty supplied Collins with the 8-gun yacht HMS Merlin for the first two years and later the yacht HMS Monmouth until 1686. His work was carried out under the supervision of Trinity House, who also supported the project financially. Samuel Pepys insisted that Collins be made a younger brother of Trinity House. Collins spent seven years on the survey, the first edition of which was published in 1693, as "Great Britain's Coasting Pilot". The charts, while not completely accurate, were an enormous advance on anything before them, entitling Collins to rank as not only one of the earliest, but also among the best of English hydrographers. Twenty-one further editions were published during the eighteenth century. (1693 (First edition)). Decorative antique eighteenth century copperplate nautical sea chart, printed on thick paper, 47.5 x 59.0cm, 18.75 x 23.25 inches; Please note that this is a folding map.

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CAPTION PRINTED BELOW PICTURE: [Land's End and Scilly Isles] To the Honble. The Govornor, Deputy Govornor and Committees of the East India Company, this chart is humbly dedicated and presented by Capt. Greenvile Collins Hydrographer to the King

This decorative chart shows the Scilly Isles and the approaches to Land's End, The Lizard and Cape Cornwall. Penzance and Market Jew (Marazion) are marked. Famously, the locations of the Scilly Isles is incorrect by up to 15 miles, which contributed to one of the worse disasters in British maritime history. 2,000 sailors and four warships were wrecked in the Scilly naval disaster of 1707, due in part to the islands being incorrectly marked too far to the north on another of Collins' charts. The island are shown on the map as being to the north of the 50th parallel; they are in fact to the south.

DATE PRINTED: 1693 (First edition)

IMAGE SIZE: Approx 47.5 x 59.0cm, 18.75 x 23.25 inches (Large); Please note that this is a folding map.

TYPE: Decorative antique eighteenth century copperplate nautical sea chart, printed on thick paper

CONDITION: Good; suitable for framing. Light spotting in margin. Please check the scan for any blemishes prior to making your purchase. Please contact us if you would like to arrange to view this map. Virtually all antiquarian maps and prints are subject to some normal aging due to use and time which is not obtrusive unless otherwise stated. We offer a no questions asked return policy.

AUTHENTICITY: This is an authentic historic print, published at the date stated above. It is not a modern copy.

VERSO: There is nothing printed on the reverse side, which is plain

FOLDING: This is a folding print.

ARTIST/CARTOGRAPHER/ENGRAVER: Captain Greenvile (or Greenville) Collins. Collins was an officer of the Royal Navy and prominent hydrographer, who was commissioned by King Charles II in 1676 and appointed by Samuel Pepys (then Secretary to the Admiralty), to chart the coasts of Great Britain. The resulting atlas - Great Britain's Coasting Pilot - was the first original sea atlas to be produced by an Englishman. Prior to publication of these maps, nautical charts were often defective, and there was no centralised system for collecting and disseminating the better maps made by experienced seamen. In 1681, Collins gained the king's preferment to survey the country's coasts. The Admiralty supplied Collins with the 8-gun yacht HMS Merlin for the first two years and later the yacht HMS Monmouth until 1686. His work was carried out under the supervision of Trinity House, who also supported the project financially. Samuel Pepys insisted that Collins be made a younger brother of Trinity House. Collins spent seven years on the survey, the first edition of which was published in 1693, as "Great Britain's Coasting Pilot". The charts, while not completely accurate, were an enormous advance on anything before them, entitling Collins to rank as not only one of the earliest, but also among the best of English hydrographers. Twenty-one further editions were published during the eighteenth century.

PROVENANCE: "Great Britain's Coasting Pilot: being a new and exact survey of the sea-coast of England and Scotland from the river of Thames to the westward and northward; with the islands of Scilly and from thence to Carlile...", by Captain Greenvile Collins, Hydrographer in Ordinary to the King and Queen's most Excellent Majesties. London: printed by Freeman Collins, and are to be sold by Richard Mount Bookseller, at the Postern on Tower-Hill, 1693

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