Art

Interesting chart of part of the south-western Pacific, showing the routes taken by the Spanish explorer Don Francisco Antonio Maurelle in 1781 along the northern coast of New Guinea and across the Pacific to Fiji and Tonga. Maurelle was credited with the discovery of the Hermit Islands on this voyage. The map includes the north-eastern coast of Australia, and parts of the coast of New Guinea. The map shows the 1781 route of his ship "The Princesa" through the Bismarck Archipelago north of New Guinea, through the Archipel de Salomos i.e. Solomon Islands and then east across the Pacific to the Iles de Amis i.e. the Friendly Islands, now Tonga where he discovered I. Vavao i.e. Vava'u with one of the best anchorages in the South Pacific. The map includes the Iles de Navigateurs i.e. Samoa, I. Fidji i.e. Fiji, Iles de Esprit i.e. Vanuatu or the New Hebrides Isles, and Nouvelle Caledonie i.e. New Caledonia. Many small islands are depicted with notes regarding their sightings by Abel Tasman, William Bligh and Maurelle. A note on the chart states that the publisher has placed the islands according to the longitude of other navigators, rather than on Maurelle's figures which were considered estimates only, and also, that Maurelles chart was based on a French chart by Jacques Nicolas Bellin published in 1742. The French cartographers at the time did not consider the Spanish charts to be sufficiently accurate, so they preferred to make their own corrections. Copper engraving. Later colour. Good condition. One light and one dark spot of foxing to the upper centre. A slight, faint watermark. Size: 49 x 34 cm. (19½ x 13½ inches)