"Dartmouth. To the Right Honorable George Lord Dartmouth, Mr. Generall of his Majesty’s Ordnance &c.", Collins, Capt. Greenvile

This great chart shows the city and harbor of Dartmouth at the entrance to the River Dart on England’s south Devon coast. A lovely compass rose orients the chart with north pointing to the right. There are bays, castles, mills, and other places named along the coasts, as well as soundings, anchorages, shoals, and navigational hazards depicted in the waters. The chart includes three large landfall approach views providing navigational bearings for approaching Dartmouth, as well as an inset of Tarr Bay within a vine-style border. This chart is typical of Greenville Collins' work with a highly decorative title cartouche flanked by putti and fish counterbalanced by an equally decorative mileage scale with additional references to the fishing industry in the region. The title cartouche includes a dedication to George Legge, First Baron of Dartmouth, who died two years before the chart was first published and was succeeded by his son, William Legge. Engraved by F. Lamb.

In 1681 Capt. Greenville Collins (fl.1669-1694) an officer in the Royal Navy was appointed by the Admiralty to make a complete survey of the coasts of Great Britain. Prior to this date the charts used by English mariners were copies of Dutch charts that had many inaccuracies. The task of surveying the entire coasts was formidable and took about 7 years, at the end of which only 46 surveys were finally used in an atlas titled "Great Britain's Coasting-Pilot Being a New and Exact Survey of the Sea-Coast of England," which was first published in 1693.

References: Shirley (BL Atlases) M.COLL-1 #7.

Condition: A

Printed on heavy paper with marginal soiling.