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It would be interesting to see something about charting procedures in
the 18th C as well. I remember going to the WInter Antiques Show at
Park Ave Armory about 25 years ago and seeing an admiralty chart from
about 1770 for Nantucket Sound. It was surprisingly modern in many
respects. Somebody had done a lotr of soundings.

One thing really shocked me. There were instructions for piloting from
Nomans Land to the corner of Chappaquiddick by sighting on the corner
of land itself, there being no light house there at the time. The tidal
currents around there would make this exceedingly hazardous in an 18th
C frigate or the like.

I wanted that chart very badly, but not enough to part with the $4000
he wanted for it. Maybe I was wrong.


On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 23:31:41 +0000, George Huxtable wrote:

>Dear Tim,
>
>It's good to find the lurkers occasionally breaking cover.
>
>If you can find a copy, try "The Admiralty Chart- British Naval Hydrography
>in the 19th century" by G S Ritchie, who was himself Hydrographer of the
>Navy. Published by Hollis and Carter, 1967. It's historical rather than
>technical.
>
>There's much enjoyment and enlightenment to be got about charting and
>mapping from some of the papers contributed to "The Quest for Longitude",
>ed. Andrewes, pub. Harvard, 1996. Big and expensive, but a magnificent
>book.
>
>George Huxtable.
>
>
>>Hello,
>>
>>I have lurked on this list for a couple years now. A lot of the topics have
>>gone over my head, but I have greatly enjoyed reading many of the
>>discussions. I haven't had time to practice using my sextant much lately
>>(nor have I ever come close to mastering it), but the discussions on this
>>list have inspired me to pull it out and experiment. Thank you!
>>
>>Anywho... I am just finishing a book called The Mapmakers, by John Noble
>>Wilford. Wow! What a great book! I am sure many of you on this list have
>>already read it, but I thought I would recommend it for the relative novice
>>like myself. The 500+ page book covers Ptolemy, Magellan, Mercator,
>>Beaufort, Harrison, Cook, Vancouver (my hero), Lewis & Clark and much, much
>>more. I think it is written in a manner that the layperson can understand.
>>Great bang for the buck--$11.20 at Amazon.
>>
>>The problem with this book is that it left me wanting more! Specifically, I
>>would love to find a book that focuses more on the history of nautical
>>charts (The Mapmakers is probably 3/4 about maps and 1/4 about nautical
>>charts). The Mapmakers teases one with preliminary information about the UK
>>Hydrographic Office, NOAA and the DMA, but doesn't go into much detail about
>>those organizations. I would love to read more about about how nautical
>>charts are created/surveyed and who was instrumental in making it all
>>happen.
>>
>>Can anyone recommend a book like The Mapmakers, but is more focused on
>>nautical charts?
>>
>>Thank You,
>>
>>Tim Whelan
>>
>>---------------------------------------------------------
>>Tim Whelan                                           _/)
>>Internet: http://www.tgw.net
>>---------------------------------------------------------
>
>------------------------------
>
>george@huxtable.u-net.com
>George Huxtable, 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
>Tel. 01865 820222 or (int.) +44 1865 820222.
>------------------------------


Rodney Myrvaagnes       NYC                                                 J36 Gjo/a


"Biologists think they are chemists, chemists think they are phycisists,
physicists think they are gods, and God thinks He is a mathematician." Anon

   

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