A New Chart of the China Sea, and East India Archipelago. Comprehending the Sunda Molucca & Phillippine [sic] Islands in which are exhibited the various Straits and Passages to Canton, and between the Indian & Pacific Oceans; carefully drawn and regulated according to the most Approved and Modern Surveys, and Astronomical Observations, by J.W. Norie, Hydrographer.

Description

original steel engraving. EXTREMELY RARE.

A splendid very detailed sea chart in its very rare first edition of 1821, on two double page sheets, centering on the China Sea East of Indochina, stretching from Canton to Java. Singapore; many shoals and reefs and islets currently under dispute are depicted based on the latest knowledge. It dates to the period when Singapore was a key trading post for growing British commercial presence against the Dutch. The map was made to aid in navigation and, in this way, foreshadows the expansion of colonial occupation and rule in the region that would extend into the next century. Norie was a geographer, hydrographer and chart maker of the highest standards, updating and reprinting his charts through many editions till the end of the 19th Century.