1860 U.S. Coast Survey Chart or Map of Martha's Vineyard and Buzzard Bay

This separately issued nautical chart is the culmination of nearly 20 years of Coast Survey work in the Vicinity of Martha's Vineyard and Buzzard Bay.

An impressive separately issue 1860 nautical chart of Martha's Vineyard and Buzzards Bay. This chart represents the U.S. Coast Survey's most advanced work in the vicinity of Martha's Vineyard. The map covers from New Bedford to Muskeget Island and from Wareham to Nomans Land Island. The chart is intricately detailed both inland and at sea. Individual buildings, topography, roads, fields, light houses, and topography are noted inland. At sea countless depth soundings as well as an intricate shading system illustrate oceanic depths as well as shoals and other hidden dangers. At both the top and bottom of the map there are finely engraved shore profiles which are doubtless of great use to the mariner in identifying coastal features. Here and there on the map textual annotations provides wealth of practical information for the mariner ranging from sailing directions to notes on Dangers, ranges, bearings, soundings, and light houses, to tidal and magnetic variation charts.

The Coast Survey began its work in the vicinity of Martha's Vineyard shortly after its founding in 1844. Subsequent work on hydrography and topography persisted throughout the 1840s and 1850s. This is one of the largest and finest examples of the charts culminating from the coast survey's work. It was completed under the superintendence of A. D. Bache.

The present chart was intended for use either as a stand alone or as the central part of a three chart set entitled Coast of the United States Monomoy and Nantucket Shoals to Block Island. Both titles appear on this chart.

It is of note that this separately issued chart is both larger and more detailed than a similar chart issued in the annual Superintendent's Report.

Cartographer

The Office of the Coast Survey (1807 - present), founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of the Treasury 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, to produce accurate navigational charts of the new nation's coasts and harbors. The first two superintendents defined the spirit of the Coast Survey. The Coast Survey's first superintendent was Swiss immigrant and West Point mathematics professor Ferdinand Hassler. Under Hassler's direction, from 1816 to 1843, the Coast Survey established its ideological and scientific foundations. These included the use of the most advanced techniques and most sophisticated equipment, along with unstinting attention to detail. Hassler devised a labor-intensive triangulation system that divided the entire coast into a series of enormous triangles. These were then subdivided into smaller triangulation units, which were individually surveyed. No one had ever attempted this exacting technique on such a massive scale. As a result, Hassler and the Coast Survey under his leadership earned a reputation for uncompromising dedication to accuracy and excellence. Unfortunately, despite being a masterful surveyor, Hassler was abrasive and politically unpopular, and Congress cut funding for the Coast Survey twice. Nonetheless, Hassler led the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, when Alexander Dallas Bache, Benjamin Franklin's great-grandson, took the helm. Bache was fully dedicated to the principles established by Hassler, but proved more politically astute and successfully lobbied Congress to fund the endeavor generously. Under A. D. Bache's leadership, the Coast Survey completed its most important work. During his long tenure with the Coast Survey, from 1843 to 1865, Bache steadfastly advocated American science and navigation and, in fact, founded the American Academy of Sciences. Benjamin Pierce succeeded Bache and ran the Survey from 1867 to 1874. Pierce was succeeded by Carlile Pollock Patterson, 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 (USCGS) to accommodate both topographic and nautical surveys. Today, the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the National Geodetic Survey.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Minor spot under left title. Else clean.