Ode To Oceanography: An Antique Nautical Chart Of The North Sea
This article is the ninth installment in 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, we 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 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. Today’s map up for analysis is an antique chart of the North Sea.
The Map Itself
Since this map is in English, there is no need for translation.
An Analysis Of The Map
This map was made originally in 1840, but it was later corrected in 1843. It was made by M. Blachford, & was sold originally by Blachford & Imray. Maps Of Antiquity is currently selling this map. This map was most certainly made in England. The map encompasses the North Sea, also known as the German Sea. The map is positioned in such a way that the coasts of the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Norway, England, Scotland, & the Shetland Islands coastal areas are all visible. This is a sailing map, so there are no reasons for any marine creature zones to be labeled. Since the map has many overlapping lines on the sea area, it is hard to tell whether any islands were left off or not. For this reason, we cannot properly assess the accuracy of this map. This map is most likely in a large collection of European maps by Blachford & Co., but we cannot tell if it is, we can only hypothesize. The map has no weather or tidal patterns displayed on the map either, due to technology at the time not being very reliable at tracking these sorts of things. There are no prominent terrestrial topographical features on the map. This map is uncolored, most likely for simplicity. This map was not made for militia use, & was most likely never used for militaristic purposes. Aside from the northern sea, the map does not Center end on any lighthouse or country in particular. Additionally, no coves are labeled on the map. There are no rapids or dangerous areas labeled directly on the map, for unknown reasons. Due to the time & location of the map making, it was most certainly made using lithography. In the lithographic method, the artist will draw directly onto a printing surface, such as zinc, or copper, until they are satisfied with the drawing. After this, the surface will be covered with a chemical etch, which will bond it to the surface. With this process, the blank areas will attract moisture to the plate & repel the lithographic ink, while the areas that are drawn on will hold the ink. Water is then wiped onto the unpainted areas to help prevent the ink from deviating. After the map wanted is inked, the paper is laid over it & covered with a tympan, & the tympan is pressed down. Finally, these materials pass through the scraper bar of the litho press. Afterward, an exact copy of whatever was supposed to be printed is revealed.
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, or any other cartographic objects, 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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