1850 Norie Nautical Chart of the Central Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, and Ionian Seas

Making the Mediterranean a British Lake.

This is John Norie's impressive, large-format 1850 nautical chart of the central Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic Sea, and Ionian Sea, covering the waters around the Italian Peninsula and the North African coasts of Tunisia and Libya. Produced late in the Age of Sail, the chart was both a product of and contributor to increasing British commercial and military dominance of the Mediterranean.

A Closer Look

The chart covers the Mediterranean and associated seas from Corsica, Sardinia, and eastern Algeria in the west to the Peloponnese (Navarino, now Pylos) and eastern Libya (Cyrene) in the east. Cities and towns, river estuaries, mountains, capes, bays, and other features are labeled all along the coastlines of islands and the mainland of Europe and Africa. Soundings, hazards, bottoms, banks, shoals, reefs, rocks, islets, anchorages, and other essential navigational information are also noted. No fewer than 21 insets appear around the main chart, offering more detailed navigational information on important ports and straits, as well as illustrations of lighthouses where applicable. Many Italian names are used for features in the eastern Adriatic and Ionian Seas, reflecting the enduring influence of the Venetian trading empire on geographic nomenclature (at least in Western Europe) well after its commercial empire had declined.

Yellow and red smudges indicate coastal lights and lighthouses, respectively. Few of these were lighthouses in the modern sense of the term. However, the Cape of Carthage Lighthouse near Tunis was state-of-the-art when it was built in 1840, as were the lighthouse at Naples, on the Molo Beverello, built in 1843, and the lighthouse at Trieste (later known as La Lanterna to distinguish it from a 20th-century lighthouse nearby), built in the same era. Several of the lights seen here would be replaced by lighthouses in the following years, as with the light at the Punta de Faro between Sicily and Calabria, near Messina, when the Capo Peloro Lighthouse was built in 1853. Conversely, the simply labeled 'Light' at Genoa is the remarkable Lanterna di Genova, the tallest lighthouse in the world between 1543 and 1902 and still the fifth tallest in the world today.

Making the Med a British Lake

This map's production by a British hydrographer, presumably for a mostly British audience, reflects the increasing control and even hegemony that British ships enjoyed over the Mediterranean after the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). Through treaties, the British government established a series of strongholds at Gibraltar, Malta, and the Ionian Islands (and later Cyprus), which would provide the Royal Navy with regular points to regroup and resupply during long voyages. These networks would prove especially important in British interventions or threatened interventions in the eastern Mediterranean at several points in the 19th century, most notably during the Crimean War (1853 - 1856). The British, with help from the French and Americans, had also suppressed the large pirate networks operating in the Mediterranean by the mid-19th century, allowing trade to flow more freely, which became an important boon to the domestic economy. These advantages would accrue even further with the completion of the Suez Canal and the advent of steamships in the following decades.

Blueback Charts

Blueback nautical charts began appearing in London in the late 18th century. Bluebacks, as they came to be called, were privately published large-format nautical charts known for their distinctive blue paper backing. The backing, a commonly available blue manila paper traditionally used by publishers to wrap unbound pamphlets, was adopted as a practical way to reinforce the low-quality paper used by private chart publishers in an effort to cut costs. That being said, not all blueback charts are literally backed with blue paper. The earliest known blueback charts include a 1760 chart issued by Mount and Page, and a 1787 chart issued by Robert Sayer.

The tradition took off in the early 19th century, when British publishers like John Hamilton Moore, Robert Blachford, James Imray, William Heather, John William Norie, Charles Wilson, David Steel, R. H. Laurie, and John Hobbs, among others, rose to dominate the chart trade. Bluebacks became so popular that the convention was embraced by chartmakers outside of England, including Americans Edmund March Blunt and George Eldridge, as well as Scandinavian, French, German, Russian, and Spanish chartmakers. Blueback charts remained popular until the late 19th century, when government-subsidized organizations, such as the British Admiralty Hydrographic Office and the United States Coast Survey, began issuing their own superior charts on high-quality paper that did not require reinforcement.

Publication History and Census

This chart was originally prepared by John Norie in 1830, based on his earlier 'A Chart of the Mediterranean Sea' with William Heather, and then updated several times, often with slight changes in the title, until the present edition in 1850. Although here as a stand-alone, this sheet could also have been combined in a massive multi-sheet single-scale set covering the entire Mediterranean Sea, titled, in this edition, A Chart of the Mediterranean, the Adriatic or Gulf of Venice, the Black Sea, Grecian Archipelago, and the Seas of Marmara and Azof. An additional complicating factor is that, no doubt due to insatiable demand, Norie issued multiple single and multi-sheet charts of the Mediterranean of different sizes and with narrower or wider coverage as customers might deem suitable. All of these are rare today. We have not located any examples of the present edition in institutional collections, while the British Library holds an 1854 edition, and the National Library of Wales holds an 1855 edition.

Cartographer

John William Norie (June 3, 1772 - December 24, 1843) was a British teacher of navigation, hydrographer, chart maker, and publisher of maritime manuals active in London, England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Norie was born in Wapping, London, an area long associated with the maritime sciences. Norie's career as a chart maker commenced under the tutelage of William Heather, a prominent purveyor and publisher of nautical charts, pilot books, and navigational tools who took over the firm of Mount and Page in 1765. Heather and Norie were likely acquainted through John Hamilton Moore, another important chart maker with whom both seem to have been associated early in their careers. Heather hired Norie to teach basic navigation at his shop at 157 Leadenhall Street. Under Heather Norie also distinguished himself as a draftsman, completing many of the early charts associated with the Heather firm. When Heather died in 1812 John Norie partnered with George Wilson, a moneyed 'man about town' with little experience in the maritime trades, to acquire the map and chart business at 9500 British Pounds. It proved a good deal for Norie, who retained all copyright privileges and drew 1/4 quarter share of business profits, as well an impressive quarterly salary and, for doing all of the work, 1/3rd of Wilson's share. The firm, referred to as the 'Naval Warehouse' quickly acquired a reputation for quality navigational materials and became a favorite of merchant seamen. It was even referenced in Charles Dickens' classic novel Dombey and Son. In 1819, Norie and Wilson acquired the failing chart business of David Steel, which significantly increased the size, though not quality, of their chart catalogue. With the rise of the British Admiralty and its own maritime chart productions, the business of "Chart Purveyor" in London dramatically changed. Admiralty charts and pilot books, designed for military use, were offered through established intermediaries, like Norie, at bargain prices. Most chart makers of the period found it profitable to use the highly technical Admiralty charts to update their own more decorative vernacular charts. For a brief time this practice proved exceptionally profitable but eventually began to draw criticism. Nonetheless, Norie retired to Edinburgh in 1840 and died a wealthy man in 1843. In 1840 the business passed to a nephew of George Wilson, Charles Wilson, who renamed the firm "Norie & Wilson". William Heather Norie, J. W. Norie's own son, produced few charts, instead pursuing a career in the legal field. Norie & Wilson merged with James Imray's prosperous chart business in 1899, becoming Imray, Laurie, Norie & Wilson, a profitable concern that remains active in the maritime charting industry.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Slight centerfold toning. Laid down on old linen.