1828 Bougainville Nautical Map of Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia

This 1828 Bougainville nautical map of Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia is the earliest acquirable, detailed chart of Port Jackson and the approaches to Sydney, in New South Wales. It appeared in the circumnavigator Bougainville's Journal de la Navigation autour du Globe de la Fregate la Thetis et la Corvette l'Esprance Execute pendant les Annees 1824, 1825 et 1826.

The Chart

Superbly engraved for the Dépôt Général de la Marine by Ambrose Tardieu, the chart shows the nautical approaches to the old town of Sydney via Port Jackson. It is a working chart: not only depth soundings, but notations of the quality of the sea bottom are meticulously incorporated. The coastlines are shown pictorially, distinguishing between the cliffs facing the ocean and the sandy inward-facing coves. The plot of the is shown only in outline, but key features and buildings are shown in detail. Sir Henry Browne Hayes' Vaucluse House is marked, across Lookout Bay from the pilot-house overlooking Watson's Bay. The signal station and Macquarie Lighthouse are shown as well. Both shown on the map and keyed to a list are the Governor's house and garden, the Dawes Point Battery, Forts Philipp and Macquarie, the arsenal, hospital and prison. The Royal Botanical Garden is shown as well, and the town gate on the route to Parramatta.

The View

On the upper-left-hand corner of the chart is a well-executed coastal view of the entrance to Port Jackson. The lighthouse and South, North and Middle head are marked with letters, keyed to the chart along with their compass headings.

Bougainville's Visit

Bougainville's voyage around the world brought him to Sydney in 1825. His visit was a busy one. He set up a monument to La Pérouse overlooking Botany Bay and became acquainted with many of the prominent members of Sydney society, including John Piper, Samuel Marsden, John Macarthur, and John Blaxland. He became rather more closely acquainted with Blaxland's eldest daughter Harriott, with whom he had a romantic tryst despite her marriage to Calcutta merchant Alexander Macdonald Ritchie.

Publication History and Census

The chart is rare. OCLC shows one copy in the National Library of Israel, and another in the National Library of Australia. We are aware of only a few copies appearing on the market in the past fifteen years.