The River Euphrates from Abu' Saide to Werdi.From The Expedition for the Survey of the Euphrates and Tigris, 1836-1840. First edition of the map.

Original engraving. Map IV of XII. 50 x 62 x cm. Folding. Marginal tears.The 12 maps were printed separately by the firm of J. & C. Walker, who was the official printer for the British Admiralty and the East India Company. They were published by Colonel Chesney himself in 1849. They were more commonly issued along with Chesney's text volumes, "The Expedition for The Survey of The Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, Carried on by Order of The British Gov. , "published by Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, London, 1850.OCLC Number / Unique Identifier:316378697 for the complete set.The Euphrates expedition of 1836 was lead by the British army officer Colonel Francis Rawson Chesney. The main objective was to establish a route "between the Mediterranean Sea and His Majesty's possessions in the East Indies by means of a steam communication of the river Euphrates". Finding a shorter route to India was the hot topic of the time. The East India Company sought a suitable solution to cut down the travel time between England and India. Chesney was involved in initial surveys in Egypt and the Middle East in the late 1820s where he investigated the possibility of passage to India via the Red Sea. In 1829 he submitted a report advocating the construction of the Suez Canal. He also brought to attention the feasibility of steam communication with India through the Euphrates. The king William IV himself expressed a desire that the route by the Euphrates to India should be put to a practical test.In late 1834 when Chesney received funds for the expedition he assembled a capable group of naval and military officers including the explorer Henry Blosse Lynch of the Indian Navy and a geologist William Francis Ainsworth, president of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. He also selected workmen from the Royal Artillery, Royal Sappers and Miners qualified in steam machinery, surveying and drawing. Chesney returned to England in September 1832 after surveying the lower Euphrates by raft and was convinced that the river was navigable, providing a swift route to India. He also believed a British presence in Mesopotamia would discourage Russian encroachment. Chesney had a well-publicised interview with William IV in April 1833, who became an avid supporter of the Euphrates scheme. Petitioning led to the nomination of a select committee which in June 1834 supported an exploratory expedition with the backing of £20,000. Chesney was given the temporary rank of Colonel and lead fourteen officers and thirty-nine men on the mission.On 10th February 1835 they sailed for Syria. The two steamships, 'Euphrates' and 'Tigris', had to be tugged in sections over fifty miles of difficult terrain, the Arab tribes along the route were hostile and many of the men, including Chesney, suffered from malaria. On 21st May 1836 a sudden storm hit and the 'Tigris' was wrecked with the loss of twenty lives. . Chesney managed, with the remaining boat, to explore and chart the Euphrates, the Tigris and the Karum rivers. This exploration ended in India and he returned to London in August 1837. This accomplishment won him the admiration of geographers and he was awarded the Geographical Society's gold medal. .After preparing an account of the expedition, Chesney returned to regimental duty in 1841 and by 1843 had risen in rank being appointed Commandant of Hong Kong. In 1847 Chesney returned to England; his last military appointment was as Colonel Commandant of the Cork district, after which he retired to his home at Pacolet, near Kilkeel, county Down, Ireland in 1852.Expertise by Elvire POULAIN &Anne Sophie JONCOUX-PILORGE, Paris.…