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The Makers of the Blueback Charts A History of Imray Laurie Norie
& Wilson Ltd. By Susanna Fisher

From the 18th century navigators relied on nautical charts produced by a handful of chartmakers and instrument sellers who worked in the City of London. These privately produced charts, or “bluebacks” as they were known from the tough blue manila paper on which they were mounted, were in circulation amongst the merchant fleets of the world until the Second World War. Susanna Fisher's meticulously researched history tells the story of the families and companies that dominated this trade from the 1750's to the present day. The makers of the blueback charts were amongst the great cartographers of their day and names like Sayer, Laurie and Findlay are well known to anyone who has an interest in old sea charts. The high and low fortunes of their businesses and the London world in which they lived and worked is colorfully portrayed in this fine well-illustrated volume. Susanna Fisher read history at London University before joining the staff of the National Maritime Museum where her principal interest became the history of navigation and hydrography. She currently runs her own business, dealing in charts, and pursuing her interest in marine research, while spending part of the year at sea, sailing her own boat, and continuing her study of charts in offshore waters. $45

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United States Coastal Charts. 1783-1861.
By Peter J. Guthorn

The first official survey of the coasts of the United States was initiated by Congress in 1807 under the direction of Thomas Jefferson. But delays due to the War of 1812 and political disagreements plus the lack of trained hydrographers slowed progress and the production of the first important chart of New York Harbor, by the United States Coast Survey wasn't published until 1843. Prior to this time, private publishers had filled the void adapting British and French charts with updates from local shipmasters and pilots used to sailing around the coasts of North America. This fine volume traces the history of coastal navigation with chapters on the Private Publishers, Charting by the Navy, Charting by the Army. The United States Coast Survey, Chart Reproduction, Projections and Paper, while the rest of the book from pages 25 to 214 is comprised of illustrations of significant U.S. Coast Survey charts of the East, West and Gulf Coasts of North America. Peter Guthorn was raised along the New Jersey shore where the ocean, boats and fishing were the principal focus of his interest. He went on to become a prominent medical doctor & surgeon and served as a medical officer in WWII. His interest in marine navigation & hydrography continued until his retirement, when he wrote and produced this first definitive study of coastal charting from the late 18th century to the late 19th century. A fine, well illustrated and informative volume. $59

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CHARTS of WAR
The Maps and Charts That Have Informed and Illustrated War at Sea. By John Blake, Lieut-Commander R.N.

From the ships of small expeditionary fleets, which carried navigational charts, to the requirements of modern ships involved in combined operations which need charts to include a whole range of information, John Blake has produced a fascinating, illustrated account of the role that charts have played in planning, preventing, conducting & recording war at sea. Taken from a range of international maritime archives, the charts illustrated include Francis Drake's attack of Cadiz in 1587, known as the singeing of the King of Spain's beard; the Dutch attack on Chatham in 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War; a plan of Chesapeake Bay where British naval forces failed to relieve General Cornwallis during the American War of Independence; William Bligh's chart of the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801; charts of the Battle of Jutland, one British, one German, and the operational chart drawn up before the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach .Lieut. Commander John Blake served nearly 12 years as a sea-going officer in the Royal Navy, followed by 5 years in the Reserve, with extensive service in ships across the world. He writes and lectures on maritime history and is the author of The Sea Chart and Sea Charts of the British Isles. (See above listings.) This wonderful book has over 100 illustrations of charts and a text covering The Age of Discoveries; American Gold. Attrition of Spanish and Portuguese Empires 1600-1715; The Ancien Regime. European, American & Asian Wars. 1700-93, Birth of a Nation. The American War of Independence, 1776-82, Charts of Global War: The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. 1793-1815; Brother Against Brother: The American Civil War, 1861-5 and The Modern Chart of War. A fine book wonderfully illustrated. $49.95

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