Sydney 1802, Signed (1 results)

Very good. Minor wear along original fold lines. Slight loss in lower margin near edge of sheet. Size 7 x 9 Inches. One of the earliest obtainable maps of the city of Sydney, Australia, this is an 1815 German edition of an 1802 manuscript map by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur. A Closer Look The map covers from Darling Harbour to Dawes Batter and from Woolloomooloo to Brickfields. At the bottom of the plan, there is a numbered index that identifies 38 important buildings. In addition, the map notes roads, buildings, windmills, gardens, orchards, gallows (with unfortunate occupants), brick fields, and the cemetery. The manuscript on which this map is based survives in the collections of the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Le Havre, France. Lesueur accompanied the Napoleon-sponsored expedition of Nicolas Baudin, which sailed from Le Havre on October 19, 1800. Initially, he signed on as an assistant gunner, but his skills at drawing, mathematics, and scientific observation were promptly recognized, leading him to be reassigned as the ship's 'artist' and 'assistant naturalist.' Although Lesueur is commonly credited with the authorship of this map, he more likely simply assisted in the illustration of a map prepared by Charles Pierre Boullanger, a midshipman on the same vessel. In this example's title area, Boullanger is credited with 'correcting' the map, but we suspect this ghosts over deeper involvement. The French and English were in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815) at this time, and we can only imagine that the British must have felt considerable trepidation as their militarily sensitive harbor was mapped by a government-sponsored French expedition. Publication History and Census The map was first engraved by Jean Baptiste Antoine Cloquet and printed in the 1802 French edition of Francois Peron's Voyage de decouvertes aux terres Australes . The work proved popular, and subsequent French, English, and German editions followed. The present example is the 1815 German edition. It was published by Geographischen Institutes of Weimer and is one of that organization's earliest and most significant publications. References: Perry, T and Prescott, J. F., A Guide to Maps of Australia in Books Published 1780 - 1830, 1808.3. Bonnemains, J., Forsyth, E., Smith, B., Baudin in Australian Waters, 16074.3. McCormick, Tim, First Views of Australia, 1788- 1825: A history of early Sydney, no. 62. Signed by Author(s).