Catalog Archive
Auction 158, Lot 206

"[Untitled - Atlantic Ocean and Position of the Gulf Stream]", Williams, Jonathan

Subject: North Atlantic

Period: 1793 (published)

Publication: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society Volume III

Color: Black & White

Size:
16.3 x 7.9 inches
41.4 x 20.1 cm
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This rare map was drawn in 1793 by Jonathan Williams and was published in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Held in Philadelphia, for Promoting Useful Knowledge, Volume III by the American Philosophical Society. The map features some place names scattered along the coastlines, but most of the detail is in the Atlantic. It shows the routes taken and measurement locations Williams used to prove the existence of the Gulf Stream. Williams' related article "On the Use of the Thermometer in Discovering Banks, Soundings, Etc." describes the methods used to prove the existence of the Gulf Stream, a theory first proposed by Benjamin Franklin in his famous paper published in Volume II. Williams accompanied Franklin in crossing the Atlantic in 1785 and another passage in 1789.

References:

Condition: B+

Issued folding on a watermarked sheet with light scattered foxing and light offsetting.

Estimate: $950 - $1,200

Sold for: $700

Closed on 6/22/2016

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