Ode To Oceanography: An Antique Nautical Chart of the South Atlantic Ocean

Today’s chart is a primordial 169-year-old map of the South Atlantic Ocean, featuring both the coasts of South America & the coast of West Africa.

The chart is fairly large, at 51 inches long by 38 inches wide. It is in beautiful condition for its age, apart from a small hole in one of its compass roses. Its blemishes & soiling are consistent with use at sea.

In today’s article, we are going to examine this antique map, discuss it, & analyze it. With that being said, let’s delve into the visually magnificent, cool, & unforgiving waters of the South Atlantic Ocean!

The Chart

A 169-year-old antique nautical chart produced by James Imray & his son, James Frederick Imray. Credit to raremaps.com.

This chart features most of South America, part of West Africa, the South Atlantic Ocean, & the Eastern Pacific Ocean, from the Equator to 65° South latitude. It is packed with information, & includes multiple archipelagos such as the Galapagos, South Shetland, South Orkney, Sandwich, & Falkland Islands. It is beautifully decorated, with intricate calligraphy all over. 10 compass roses are littered across the map, which would have been used by navigators to orient themselves as to what their position was.

In the Atlantic, we can see “Reid's Shoal (1842)”, located near Lagoa dos Patos, Brazil, while in the Pacific we can see “Powsland Reef? (1853)”. Coral reefs, rocky reefs, & shoals pose many issues to passing ships, as they may cause hull damage to unsuspecting vessels which strike them. Hull damage can catastrophically alter the structural integrity of the ship, & may cause it to capsize & sink. As such, it is of critical importance to have these properly labelled.

Weather conditions are featured prominently in the chart, with the infamous Drake Passage labelled with “Storms and almost constant rain prevail here”. Other areas, such as the South Sandwich Islands, are labelled with “High Land covered with snow”.

South of 60° Latitude, reports of field ice from various years can be seen. Field ice is defined as an expanse of sea ice or lake ice on a body of water which is so large, that the other side may not be seen from the masthead of a ship. It is relatively flat, & according to the Manual of Ice, must be more than 6.3 miles (10 kilometers) across. This would have been extraordinarily useful to any sailor traversing icy Antarctic waters, as field ice could severely damage or even sink a vessel.

Information about currents near Brazil & Cape Horn can be found on the left side of the map, while information about the Lagullas Current, South African Current, & Southern Connecting Current can be found on the right side. According to the chart, the Lagullas Current is set westward around the Cape of Good Hope, & varies in velocity. The South African Current is a strong broad extension of the Lagullas Current, running northwest. The Southern Connecting Current flows to the east between 30° & 40° South latitude. It is also broad, & quite strong.

Illustrations of Tristan de Cunha, West Falkland, Gough Island, False Cape Horn & the Cape Horn can all be seen near the bottom. Each coastline is drawn with attention to detail.

An Analysis Of The Chart

This chart was manufactured in 1857, by the Scottish pair of hydrographers James Imray & his son, James Frederick Imray. Imray Sr. began his business as a bookseller in 1818. He shared his office space with a nautical chart seller, Robert Blachford, & eventually went into business with his successor, Michael Blachford. He eventually bought Blachford out in 1846, & brought his son in as a partner in 1854. In 1899, the firm was sold to Norie & Wilson. Nowadays, the combined firms trade under the name Imray, Laurie, Norie, & Wilson, keeping the name alive over a century later.

The map was created & published in London, as that is where the cartographic office of Imray was located.

The chart is titled “General Chart of the South Atlantic or Ethiopic Ocean From The Equator to 65° South Latitude according to the latest Surveys & Observations”.

Upon reviewing the concise details printed, publishing house, & era that it was manufactured in, this chart was likely manufactured using lithography.

Lithography is a method of printing that arose in the 1820s, & remained the most popular method of printing in both color & grayscale until the early 1960s, when more efficient methods became available. Although it has existed since the mid-1790s, it took a long time to gain popularity in Europe due to technical difficulties. It only began gaining commercial popularity in the early 1820s. It is still used for certain kinds of printing today, such as fine art printing, however, digital printing is far more common.

In the lithographic method, the artist will draw directly onto a printing surface, such as zinc, or copper, until they are satisfied with the drawing. After this, the surface will be covered with a chemical etch, which will bond it to the surface. With this process, the blank areas will attract moisture to the plate & repel the lithographic ink, while the areas that are drawn on will hold the ink. Water is then wiped onto the unpainted areas to help prevent the ink from deviating. After the image is inked, the paper is laid over it & covered with a tympan, & the tympan is pressed down. Finally, these materials pass through the scraper bar of the litho-press. Afterward, an exact copy of what was supposed to be printed is revealed. It is extremely useful for making high-resolution prints in high quantities.

A sunlit photograph of Cape Horn, Tierra del Fuego, Chile. This area is prominently featured on today’s chart. Credit to Wikimedia Commons.

Directories / Credits

All credit for this map analyzed today goes to Rare Maps, a California rare & antique maps store. To purchase this chart, antique atlases, or other cartographic objects, please visit www.raremaps.com. To be clear, this is not an advertisement for Rare Maps, as we do not have a partnership with them.

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