1647 / 1661 Robert Dudley Nautical Map of New York and New England

First printed English Nautical Chart of New York and New England. / First use of the name 'Connecticut' in any form.

This is a superb example of Robert Dudley's 1647 / 1661 nautical map of the coast of New York and New England - according to Burden, the 'first printed sea chart of New England and the New Netherlands.' Moreover, it is the first chart of New England to be produced by an Englishman. The chart's portolan-like lines and exquisite Florentine calligraphy distinguish it as one of the most beautiful works dedicated to the region. It is a rarity on the market, and a prize map for collectors of New York and New England.

A Closer Look

This north-oriented chart reaches from Cape Henlopen on the mouth of Delaware Bay to the cusp of Penobscot Bay. The chart thus encompasses coastal New Jersey; New York Harbor and the mouth of the Hudson River; Manhattan Island, New Amsterdam, and Long Island; the coasts of Connecticut and Rhode Island, including Narragansett Bay; Cape Cod, Boston Harbor, and coastal Massachusetts; and the southern half of coastal Maine. Boston is accurately placed for the first time. Pemaquid, Maine, is also identified for the first time.

The area is presented on a Mercator projection. Dudley's Arcano del Mare is the first sea atlas to employ this complicated but useful method, which ensured that a straight line on the page would accurately represent a straight line on the surface of the globe. Therefore, the Arcano del Mare was the first assemblage of printed charts serviceable for navigation.

This usefulness to the navigator is also emphasized by the chart's inclusion of shoals, prevailing winds, compass variations, and especially the depth soundings leading from the Atlantic Ocean into Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bay: again, these appear here for the first time on any printed map of these waters.

Dudley's Sources

Dudley was a well-informed mapmaker. He was keen to draw on new sources wherever he could glean them. He himself crossed the Atlantic, and his charts of Guiana and the West Indies may have benefited from his own observation. In many cases, his sources were English, particularly the manuscript works of the Thames School of chartmakers, whose masters are today known only by their names and their works. Even the dates of the founder of this tradition, John Daniell, are not known. Surviving charts by Daniell suggest that Dudley referred to them for a number of his charts, including the 1646 Carta Seconda Generale del' America, which is clearly derived from Daniell's 1639 manuscript, as is the outline for Dudley's 1647 Carta particolare della terra nuova.

As for the present work, a quick glance is enough to confirm that the coastline of Dudley's chart is derived from Willem Blaeu's 1630 map of the New Netherlands and New England, not a Thames School chart. Dudley's reliance on Blaeu connects the present work to the 1614 chart of Adrien Block, in terms of the coastal outline and many of the placenames. But there are details here that are not present on the Blaeu, indicating that Dudley had additional sources, which contextually appear to be English.

Fresh Information

A profusion of place names appear here that do not appear on the contemporary Dutch maps and charts, and reflect Dudley's push to make his work as up to date as possible. The Delaware River (called Zuyd or 'South River' by the Dutch) is here termed R: Carlo, a placename Burden first finds on a 1646 manuscript chart of Thames chartmaker Nicolas Comberford. Dudley chooses the English terminology for the Hudson River (the Dutch preferred Noord Rivier, to de-emphasize the contributions of the Englishman Henry Hudson). In the vicinity of Staten Island, in what is now Newark Bay, a river is termed the R. Achter Kol. This placename, referring to the back channel behind Staten Island, does appear on the Blaeu but near it, the terms Osters Bay and Sand Bay appear - and these do not derive either from a known contemporary Dutch chart or from the 1639 Daniell chart.

At the eastern limits of the New Netherlands colony, a river named 'Conokteook' appears: we believe this chart to be the first appearance on a map of this placename - what would become Connecticut (beating Jansson's 1651 map, which has been long thought to bear that laurel.) This river is not to be mistaken for today's Connecticut River, which on this map and the Blaeu is termed the Versche, or Fresh River.

In the Massachusetts and Maine region, we see names derived from English sources. New Plymouth was known to Blaeu; Boston was not, and it appears here accurately for the first time on a chart. Among the placenames of the Maine Coast, 'Pemaquid' appears for the first time.

Navigational Features

The most novel additions are the navigational details. Dudley's notations of the prevailing winds, currents, and especially the depth soundings do not appear on any earlier map of the northeast. Moreover, Dudley's source for these technical details is not known, as there is no identifiable surviving source. It is telling that the depth soundings all pertain to approaches to the English settlements in Plymouth and Boston, rather than to the New Netherlands. That, in conjunction with the new placenames appearing in Massachusetts and Maine, hints that Dudley's unknown source was likely English.

A Masterpiece of Engraving

It is fortune's blessing on us that Robert Dudley fell out of favor in England and had fled to Italy, for it was through his service to the Medici that he was able to afford the services of his engraver, Antonio Francesco Lucini. This Florentine engraver's inimitable Italian baroque style marks all of Dudley's charts. The coastline and its lettering are typically bold and legible throughout, but Lucini has also embellished the chart with an elegant compass rose, a sailing ship, and an abundance of lavish calligraphy, unrivaled in 17th-century chartmaking. Lovers of beautiful engraving will find much to appreciate here, irrespective of the chart's many geographical merits.

Publication History and Census

This map was initially drafted by Sir Robert Dudley in manuscript form c. 1636. It was subsequently engraved in an Italian baroque style by Antonio Francesco Lucini and printed in Florence in 1646. The present second-state example (exhibiting the notation 'Lº.6º.' in the cartouche) appeared in the 1661 edition of Dudley's Dell'Arcano Del Mare. Burden describes it as 'of great rarity.' We see the separate chart in four institutions; three of these are the present 1661 state. Complete or partial examples of the Dell'Arcano Del Mare are more widely distributed among institutional libraries, though still quite rare.

Cartographers

Sir Robert Dudley (August 7, 1573 - September 6, 1649) was an English explorer and cartographer, the publisher of the Dell’Arcano de Mare, one of the greatest nautical atlases of all time. He was the illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I) and Douglas Sheffield, the widow of John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield. In 1594, Dudley led an expedition across the Atlantic, with the intent of harassing Spanish merchantmen. His expedition met with a series of misfortunes, but successfully returned to England the following year. In 1596, Dudley joined an expedition led by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, against Cadiz. He served as the commander of the Nonpareil, and was knighted for his conduct in the capture of Cadiz. In 1603, Dudley made an attempt to establish his legitimacy at court and gain several inheritances, after being (possibly erroneously) informed that his parents had been secretly married. No concrete proof of the marriage could be furnished, thus the judgement was handed down against him in May 1605. Dudley left England in July of the same year, with his lover and cousin Elizabeth Southwell, who was disguised as his page. They married in Lyon in 1606 having received a papal dispensation. The couple settled in Florence, where Dudley began using his father’s title, Earl of Leicester, and his uncle’s, Earl of Warwick. In Florence, Dudley designed and built warships for the arsenal at Livorno and became a naval advisor to Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1607, James I revoked Dudley’s travel license once ordered that he return to provide for his deserted wife and family. Dudley refused, was subsequently labeled an outlaw, and his estate was confiscated. By far Dudley’s most important work was the Dell’Arcano del Mare (Secrets of the Sea). His most celebrated achievement, is the atlas of sea charts of the world which accompanied the work. This maritime atlas was the first nautical atlas of the entire world in print, the first made by an Englishman, the first to show prevailing winds and currents, and the first to use the Mercator projection throughout.   Further Details...

Antonio Francesco Lucini (January 1, 1610 - 1661), a.k.a. Anton, was an Italian engraver and printmaker. Lucini was born in Florence born in 1605. Lucini initially studied engraving with Stefano della Bella (1610 - 1664) under Jacques Callot (c 1592 - 1635), who lived in Florence from 1612 to 1621. He is recorded in 1616 as Callot's assistant in Florence. After 1621, he joined flowed Callot in Nancy to continue his training. He returned to Florence sometime before 1631, when he published a series of plates on the Great Siege of Malta. He is best known in cartographic circles as the engraver for Sir Robert Dudley's seminal maritime atlas Dell'Arcano del Mare (Of the Mysteries of the Sea), published in Florence in 1645 - 1646. The 200 engraved plates and 146 charts which Lucini produced for Dudley occupied 12 years occupied 12 years of his life and consumed some 5000lbs of copper. The engravings exhibit Lucini’s masterful craftsmanship and are outstanding examples of Italian Baroque engraving. Indeed, while Dudley was a master chartmaker, it is Lucini's virtuoso engraving and fine calligraphy that most define Dudley's work.   Further Details...

Source

Dudley, R., Dell'Arcano del Mare, (Florence: Cocchini) 1661.    

Dell’Arcano del Mare (Secrets of the Sea) is a six volume 17th century maritime encyclopedia by English nobleman Sir Robert Dudley (1573 - 1649). It is considered to be one of the most important maritime atlases of all time, the first of its kind in print: the first sea atlas to treat the entire world (not just Europe), the first by an Englishman, the first to illustrate prevailing winds and currents, and the first to universally employ a Mercator projection. The charts themselves are notable for being all new works, created by Dudley based upon a lifetime of collecting maritime data. All of the roughly 130 known charts in the Dell’Arcano del Mare were engraved in the Italian baroque aethetic by Antonio Francesco Lucini, a Florentine master engraver. It is said that the work took Lucini 12 years and consumed more than 5000lbs of copper. It was published in Florence between 1645 and 1646 in six folio volumes. Another edition was issued in 1661 but contained fewer charts.

Condition

Excellent. Evidence of binding at left but ample margin, else fine.

References

OCLC 225578448. Burden, P., The Mapping of North America 278. McCorkle, B., New England in Early Printed Maps 1513 to 1800 646.1.