1827 Vandermaelen map of the New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands

Earliest lithograph map of New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands.

This is the 1827 Vandermaelen map of New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, Erromango, and Tanna. It is the first lithographic map of these islands, and one of the first overall to focus so narrowly on them. It is accompanied by an extensive French text describing Cook's discovery of New Caledonia, the island's mountainous topography, and (with an almost palpable shiver) the cannibalistic propensities of its inhabitants.

A Closer Look

The Loyalty Islands appear in outline, and in an early stage of their geographical knowledge. Cook's second journey of 1774 failed to encounter them, despite bracketing them with the mapping of both New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Their western discovery was attributed to a 1790 voyage of the ship Loyalty (after which the islands would be named). The northernmost islands of that archipelago, the Îles es Beaupré marked here, are named after the French Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré, who presented them on his 1807 Carte de la Nouvelle Calédonia, which recorded the 1793 passage north of them by the frigate l'Espérance. That same year, the British Captain Raven mapped the rest of the archipelago aboard the Britannia. A confusion of maps followed over the next decades, with some maps naming the Britannia Isles south of the Îles Beaupré, and others naming the Loyalty Islands.

Vandermaelen has mapped New Caledonia and the northwest part of the archipelago following the map of Beautemps-Beaupré, including his presentation of the atoll bearing his name. The Loyalty Islands are sketched in, positioned as they appear on Arrowsmith's 1798 Chart of the Pacific Ocean, which first presented Captain Raven's discovery.

Publication History and Census

This map appeared in the sixth part, Océanique, of Vandermaelen's Atlas universel de Géographie Physique, Politique, Statistique et Minéralogique. The atlas was produced in one edition in 1827; only 810 complete sets were sold. The full set of six volumes appears in 11 institutional collections in OCLC, and the 6th volume alone is listed in 10. Only one separate record of the map appears in the collection of the National Library of New Zealand.

Cartographers

Philippe Marie Guillaume Vandermaelen (December 23, 1795 - May 29, 1869) was a Flemish cartographer active in Brussels during the first part of the 19th century. Vandermaelen is created with "one of the most remarkable developments of private enterprise in cartography," namely his remarkable six volume Atlas Universel de Geographie. Vandermaelen was born in Brussels in 1795 and trained as a globe maker. It was no doubt his training as a globe maker that led him see the need for an atlas rendered on a universal scale in order that all bodies could be understood in relation to one another. In addition to his great work Vandermaelen also produced a number of globes, lesser maps, a highly detailed 250 sheet map of Belgium, and several regional atlases.   Further Details...

Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré (August 6, 1766 - March 16, 1854) was a French hydrographic engineer and cartographer and was also a member of the Academy of Sciences. He is considered the father of modern hydrography. Beautemps-Beaupré began his career as a hydrographer in 1783 as a student of his uncle Jean-Nicolas Buache, who was the director of the dépôt de la Marine at the time. He became an engineer in 1785 and created his first maps that year. He was a member of the crew of La Recherche, which left France in 1791 under the command of Antoine Reymond Joseph de Bruni d'Entrecasteaux in search of the French explorer La Pérouse, who had disappeared in 1788. The expedition with La Recherche lasted until 1796, and Beautemps-Beaupré took advantage of these years to develop new foundations for hydrography, developing it into a true science and adopting methods that would soon be adopted by all mariners. When L'Appendice au voyage de D'Entrecasteaux was published in 1808, it contained all Beautemps-Beaupré's work from the voyage and it 'revolutionized hydrographic methods'. Beautemps-Beaupré was made sub curator of the dépôt des cartes et plans de la marine in 1799 and was put in charge of all major hydrographic work during the Empire and the Bourbon Restoration, making him among the few government officials to serve during both periods. He was elected to the Academy of Sciences in 1810. He was mad director of the dépôt des cartes et plans de la marine in 1814 and held the position until 1838. Over the course of his career, Beautemps-Beaupré created at least 613 distinct works, including over 150 maps and plans and 279 views.   Further Details...

Source

Vandermaelen, P., Atlas universel de geographie physique, politique, statistique et mineralogique, (Bruxelles: Vandermaelen) 1827.    

Atlas Universel de Geographie. This great work, featuring some 378 unique maps and compiled over three years, was the first lithograph atlas, and the first to render the world on the same projection and at a uniform scale. It was no doubt Vandermaelen’s training a globe maker that led him see the need for an atlas rendered uniformly so that all bodies could be understood in relation to one another. As a result, many newly emerging areas received more attention than prior efforts. Maps of the American West, in particular, benefited: ‘no mapmaker had previously attempted to use such a large scale for any western American area.’ (Wheat). Central and South Asia also appear in sharper focus. Despite Vandermaelen’s reliance upon existing sources, his maps very frequently provided the clearest depictions available of many poorly-understood parts of the world. The atlas was an expensive production, costing $800 in 1827. Subscription lists indicate that only 810 full sets of the atlas were sold. It was printed on high-quality paper with superior hand coloring and was engraved in a clear, legible style. Conjoined, the maps of Vendermaelen's atlas would create a massive globe some 7.75 meters in diameter, a feat which was accomplished at the Etablissement Geographique de Brussels.

Condition

Excellent. Original outline color.

References

OCLC 949815370. Rumsey 2212.374