1855 U.S. Coast Survey Nautical Chart or Map of the Chesapeake Bay
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Description: An exceptional example of the 1855 U.S. Coast Survey's progress chart of the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay. Covers the Bay from the mouth of the Susquehanna River southwards as far as Cape Henry and Norfolk. Includes both the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay in full, as well as small portions of the Potomac River, Rappahannock River, York River, James River, Patapsco River, and Patuxent River. Identifies Washington D.C., Harper’s Ferry, Alexandria, Cape May, Charleston, Baltimore, Annapolis, Chestertown, Easton, Cambridge and Norfolk. The map identifies buoys, lights, and offers thousands of depth soundings. Detailed sailing instructions appear at the center of the map. This map is based upon a smaller chart issued for inclusion in the Superintendent’s annual Report, however, has been expanded in the direction of Washington D.C. such that the map overlays the original title area. As a separately issued nautical chart this map was printed heavy paper backed with linen.
Date: 1855 (dated)
Cartographer: The Office of the Coast Survey, founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin, is the oldest scientific organization in the U.S. Federal Government. Jefferson created the "Survey of the Coast," as it was then called, in response to a need for accurate navigational charts of the new nation's coasts and harbors. The first superintendent of the Coast Survey was Swiss immigrant and West Point mathematics professor Ferdinand Hassler. Under the direction of Hassler, from 1816 to 1843, the ideological and scientific foundations for the Coast Survey were established. Hassler, and the Coast Survey under him developed a reputation for uncompromising dedication to the principles of accuracy and excellence. Hassler lead the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, at which time Alexander Dallas Bache, a great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, took the helm. Under the leadership A. D. Bache, the Coast Survey did most of its most important work. During his Superintendence, from 1843 to 1865, Bache was steadfast advocate of American science and navigation and in fact founded the American Academy of Sciences. Bache was succeeded by Benjamin Pierce who ran the Survey from 1867 to 1874. Pierce was in turn succeeded by Carlile Pollock Patterson who was Superintendent from 1874 to 1881. In 1878, under Patterson's superintendence, the U.S. Coast Survey was reorganized as the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C & GS or USGS) to accommodate topographic as well as nautical surveys. Today the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA. Click here for a list of rare maps from the U. S. Coast Survey.
Size: Printed area measures 27 x 31 inches (68.58 x 78.74 centimeters)
Condition: Very good condition. Issued on thick paper and backed with linen.
Code: ChesapeakeBayHd-uscs-1855 (to order by phone call: 646-320-8650)
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