1744 Bowen and Cowley Map of the Galapagos Islands

One of the earlist obtainalbe maps of the Galapagos.

This 1744 Emmanuel Bowen map of the Galápagos Islands is one of the earliest specific maps of the remote archipelago, later made famous by Charles Darwin and the voyage of HMS Beagle. Based on 1683 survey work by Captain William Ambrose Cowley, this is the first substantial English mapping of the Galápagos. This map represents a critical stage in the cartographic history of the Galápagos, being the definitive cartography of the islands until Darwin and FitzRoy's 1835 voyage.

A Closer Look

The map is attributed to Captain William Ambrose Cowley, who visited the Galápagos Islands aboard the English privateering vessel Bachelor's Delight in 1683. Although the map credits Cowley with discovering the islands, the Spanish had known the Galápagos since at least 1535. Cowley's importance lies instead in producing the first substantial English survey of the archipelago.

The crew of the Bachelor's Delight included several notable privateers, among them William Dampier, Lionel Wafer, Edward Davis, and Cowley himself. During their visit, Cowley charted the islands and produced the cartography represented here. Although geographically imperfect, his map established the recognizable outlines and relative positions of many of the principal islands.

Cowley also replaced the existing Spanish names with English ones honoring prominent British figures: Fernandina became Narborough Island, Isabela became the Duke of Albemarle's Island, Santiago became King James Island (Santiago itself being the Spanish form of James), and Santa Cruz became the Duke of Norfolk's Island, among others. Cowley's wholesale replacement of the established Spanish nomenclature with names honoring the English Crown and aristocracy did not constitute a formal British territorial claim. It nonetheless amounted to a striking cartographic appropriation of the archipelago at a time when English privateers were challenging Spanish supremacy in the Pacific. His nomenclature proved remarkably enduring and was reinforced by later British hydrography.

Despite its inaccuracies, Cowley's chart remained the most important map of the Galápagos for more than a century, until improved surveys by Captain James Colnett and cartography published by Aaron Arrowsmith appeared at the end of the 18th century. The islands subsequently assumed extraordinary scientific importance following Charles Darwin's 1835 visit aboard HMS Beagle, when his observations of their distinctive flora and fauna contributed to the development of his ideas on evolution by natural selection. The Beagle expedition, commanded by Captain Robert FitzRoy, produced far more rigorous hydrographic surveys of the archipelago, ultimately allowing the British Admiralty to publish the first truly accurate modern charts of the Galápagos.

Below the map is text describing the naming of the islands and offering an anecdote regarding the privateer Woodes Rogers' criticism of Edward Davis' account of the islands. Apparently, Rogers was unable to find water despite the success of earlier navigators - more a criticism of Rogers than the islands.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn and engraved by Emmanuel Bowen and published in John Harris's 1744 Navigantium Atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca…. This work is one of the most ambitious English geographical and voyage compilations of the 18th century, transforming two centuries of European exploration literature into an encyclopedic account of the known world at the dawn of Britain's great age of maritime expansion.

Cartographers

Emanuel Bowen (1694 - May 8, 1767) had the high distinction to be named Royal Mapmaker to both to King George II of England and Louis XV of France. Bowen was born in Talley, Carmarthen, Wales, to a distinguished but not noble family. He apprenticed to Charles Price, Merchant Taylor, from 1709. He was admitted to the Merchant Taylors Livery Company on October 3, 1716, but had been active in London from about 1714. A early as 1726 he was noted as one of the leading London engravers. Bowen is highly regarded for producing some of the largest, most detailed, most accurate and most attractive maps of his era. He is known to have worked with most British cartographic figures of the period including Herman Moll and John Owen. Among his multiple apprentices, the most notable were Thomas Kitchin, Thomas Jeffreys, and John Lodge. Another apprentice, John Oakman (1748 - 1793) who had an affair with and eventually married, Bowen's daughter. Other Bowen apprentices include Thomas Buss, John Pryer, Samuel Lyne, his son Thomas Bowen, and William Fowler. Despite achieving peer respect, renown, and royal patronage, Bowen, like many cartographers, died in poverty. Upon Emanuel Bowen's death, his cartographic work was taken over by his son, Thomas Bowen (1733 - 1790) who also died in poverty.   Further Details...

William Ambrosia Cowley (fl. c. 1683 - 1686) was an English privateer and navigator notable for circumnavigating the globe and for producing the first map of the Galapagos Islands, drafted in 1684. A brief account of his travels appeared as 'Cowley's Voyage Round the Globe' in William Hacke's Collection of Original Voyages, published in 1699. He was also the originator of the phantom island of Pepys, supposedly some 230 nautical miles north of the Falkland Islands.   Further Details...

Source

Harris, J., Navigantium Atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca…, (London: T. Woodward) 1744.    

Condition

Excellent.

References

OCLC 677987838. Shirley (BL Atlases) G.HARR-1a #3.