Ode To Oceanography: Antique Chart Of The Entirety Of New England
This article is a part of the Ode to Oceanography Series. This series will publish on the 15th of every month, until we run out of antique nautical maps to analyze, though that will not be for many decades. Once that happens, we will keep the series running, but we will change the article format. In these articles, will take an antique nautical map & analyze it in its entirety. These maps will not strictly be on open oceanic waters, they may be on rivers or occasionally, bays. We will also discuss the methods that may have been used to make the map, considering the time period, & the country of origin. These maps will come from a variety of sources, though they will mainly come from Maps Of Antiquity, a wonderful New England map shop. These maps will come from varying time periods, & will not be in any particular historical order. Todays Map being analyzed is a map of the coast of New England, circa 1757. This map encompasses the entirety of coastal New England, & the entirety of Nova Scotia. This map is one of the few preserved maps of its time, & it has never once been restored. Since Nova Scotia has coastline approximately 13,000 kilometers (8077.8255 miles) of coastline, Maine has a coastline of approximately 3,478 miles (2161.75 kilometers), & the rest of New England has approximately 2,033 miles (3271.7964 kilometers) of coastline. That gives this map approximately 13,588.8255 miles of coastline. In this article we will discuss the map itself & the translation of certain sections of the map, & a surface level analysis on this antique nautical map. With that being said let us delve into the New England Coastline.
The Map Itself
This map is incredibly detailed, with an impressive amount of depth. Since there is french on it, it is our duty to translate the article into English. The top emblem says in its first half, “Carte Reduite des Costes Orientales de l'Amerique Septentrionale”, which translates to “Reduite map of the Eastern Costes of North America”. In its second half, it is much to blurry to make out what it actually states. It does outline a few topographical features, such as mountains, along with a few valleys as well.
A Surface Level Analysis Of The Map
This map was made in the year 1757, which would have been during the time when America, was not yet its own country. It is currently unclear where exactly this map was found, or made which country this map was made in. Since the map is in french, it was most likely made in Canada, or Paris, as Paris was the core city of cartography at the time. It is also unclear who exactly this map was made by, though it was most likely British, rather then American sailors. This map encompasses the entirety of New England, as well as Nova Scotia. It unfortunately has no sea monsters, or things such as the legendary Champ monster, outlined on the map. The map is extremely accurate, aside from a few minor proportional issues in relation to a few New Englander islands. This map does not have an official name, but the top piece of the emblem could be interpreted as a name, or title of sorts. There are no wave, or wind patterns on this map, though that is to be expected due to the time of the maps making. There are one of 2 ways this map could have been made. Either, it was directly hand drawn & coloured, meaning that it is one of kind, which is quite plausible to the many overlapping lines, & extraordinary detail. Alternatively, it could have been made the traditional way, & been mass produced. In this technique, there are 5 jobs, the mapmaker, the engraver, the printer, the papermaker, & the colourist. The first step in this process is that the mapmaker will go out & make a hand-drawn map of the area where the map will encompass. Effectively, the mapmaker is the informant who makes the first copy. After this, the engraver will create a design of the map in reverse on a metal, usually copper, surface. Usually there would only be 1-2 plates used, however it differs depending on the size of the map. After the copper plate is made, the printer will heat the copper panel, & then proceed to lather it with ink. They will then wipe the copper panel down to the point where ink is only on the grooves of the panel. Then after this, the printer will press damp paper onto the ink, & hang it up to dry. To conclude, the colourist will touch up the map & decorate it by adding in details, such as shorelines & shoals. Out of the 2, it seems that it was hand drawn, & it is one of a kind or one of very few ever made.
Directories / Credits
All credit for this map analyzed today goes to Maps Of Antiquity, a wonderful New England map shop. To purchase this map, & any other maps, please visit mapsofantiquity.com. To be clear, this is not an advertisement for Maps Of Antiquity, as we do not have a partnership with them.
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