1929 Admiralty Nautical Chart or Maritime Map of the Huangpu River, Shanghai

A nautical chart of the Huangpu River centered on Shanghai and the International Settlement.

This is a 1929 British Admiralty nautical chart or maritime map of the Huangpu (Whangpoo) River. Centered on Shanghai and the International Settlement, the map depicts the region along the river from just south of Shanghai to the river's mouth, where it empties into the Yangtze River. Highly detailed, myriad depth soundings measured in feet are included along the whole length of the river, allowing for ease of navigation. Navigational hazards, including wrecks, are noted, as are lights both within the river and along its banks. Buildings are illustrated along the entire length of the river, with the International Settlement labeled in large block letters. The British Consulate, the Russian Consulate, the United States Consulate, and the Japanese Consulate all are explicitly labeled. Two inset maps, one depicting the Woosung Bar and the other depicting a continuation of the Huangpu above where the main chart ends, are included. One, the chart of the Woosung Bar, is situated along the left border, while the continuation of the Huangpu is in the lower right corner.

This chart was published by the Admiralty in 1929.

Cartographer

The British Admiralty Office (1795 - Present), or the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, is the Branch of the English government responsible for commanding the British Navy. In 1795, King George III created the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, known as the U.K.H.O., to provide high-quality nautical charts for the Royal Navy. Before the Admiralty's founding, surveying and creating nautical charts was primarily a commercial venture, and the cartographer himself often financed the printing of his own material. Even the great navigator Cook is known to have scrambled for funds to publish his own seminal charts - the most important and advanced of the period. The system of privately funded nautical mapping and publishing left vast portions of the world uncharted and many excellent charts unpublished. King George III, responding to significant losses in trade revenue from shipwrecks and delays caused by poor charts, recognized the need for an institutionalized, government-sponsored cartographic agency: the Admiralty. The first head of the Admiralty, a position known as Hydrographer, was the important cartographer Alexander Dalrymple. Dalrymple began by organizing and cataloging available charts before starting the laborious process of updating them and filling in the blanks. The first official Admiralty Chart appeared in 1800 and detailed Quiberon Bay in Brittany. By 1808, Captain Thomas Hurd became Hydrographer. Hurd advocated selling Admiralty charts to the general public and, by the time he retired in 1829, had issued and published about 736 charts. Stewardship then passed to Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort. Under Beaufort's administration, the Admiralty truly developed as a "chart-making" rather than a "chart-cataloging" institution. Beaufort held his post from 1829 to 1854. In his 25 years at the Admiralty, Beaufort created nearly 1,500 new charts and sponsored countless surveying and scientific expeditions, including the 1831 to 1836 voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle. By 1855, the Admiralty's chart catalog listed some 1,981 charts.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Even overall toning. Light wear along original fold lines. Blank on verso.