Virginia, Maryland, Chesapeake & Delaware Bays

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U. S. Coast Survey Reprint
“The Harbor of Annapolis” $40
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DELAWARE AND MARYLAND

CP113 - U. S. COAST SURVEY "Preliminary Sketch Showing the soundings off the Sea Coast of Delaware and Maryland by the Hydrographic Party of the U. S. Coast Survey" Wash. D. C. 1850. B/W. 13X9. Finely engraved chart shows the shoreline from Rehoboth Bay, Delaware southward to just below Sinepuxent Bay, Maryland, noting principal bays and inlets along the way. Many soundings are shown offshore along with Fenwick Is. Shoals, Isle of Wight Shoal, Great & Little Gull Banks. Includes navigational notes on 'dangers' around the shoals and Fenwicks Is. 

CP123 - U. S. COAST SURVEY “Metomkin Inlet” Virginia. Wash. 1862. Colored. 21X19. Chart has very detailed soundings outside and into the inlet. Topographical details shown along the coastline and around Metomkin Bay. Locates creeks, landing, shoals. Navigational notes on buoys, tides, bottoms & variations. 

CP125 - U. S. COAST SURVEY "Reconnaissance of the Entrance to Chesapeake Bay" Virginia, by the Hydrographic Party under the command of Lieut. B. F. Sands. U. S. Navy. 1851. 10½X12. B/W. Sailing directions, tides, many soundings, navigational notes. All channels, including the main ship channel. Fisherman's Island. Smith's Island. Cape Henry and Cape Charles located. 

CP158 - U. S. COAST SURVEY “The Harbor of Annapolis” Wash. D.C. 1846. Colored. 15X17. (Reproduced from the original.) Fine nautical chart shows Annapolis Harbor on Chesapeake Bay and depicts Kent Island with Price's Point, block plan of Annapolis & St. John's College. Locates the Severn River, Round Bay, the Lighthouse at Greensberry's Point, Whitehall Flats, Sandy Point Lighthouse, Hackett's Point, North Shoal, Inner and Annapolis Roads, and depicts hundreds of depth soundings in the Bay and River, with beacons, buoys and courses well delineated. Includes 4 landfall approach views as aids to navigation plus navigational notes on tides, Lat. and Long. and Magnetic Variations, and includes detailed sailing directions for vessels bound into the Harbor. The chart includes both topographical and hydrographical details. The Topography engineered by J. H. Young, Phila. the Views by O. Lawson of Wash. D.C. and the Hydrography under the direction of George M. Bache. Lieut. U. S. Navy.

CP161 - S. A. MITCHELL “Plan of Baltimore.” Phila. 1872. Colored. 9X11. Intensely detailed street block plan of Baltimore in the late 19th century shows the City Dock, the Basin and the N.W. Branch of the Patapsco River. Depicts wharves, public buildings, hospital, museum, railroads and the St. Clare Station. St. Mark's College, cemetery, Union Square and the Odd Fellows Hall. Map has a decorative border frame and is from Mitchell's “New General Atlas”, published in Philadelphia in 1872. 

CP170 - J. BIEN “Two Part Military Map Showing 1) the Topographical Features of the Country Adjacent to Harper's Ferry, VA. including Maryland, Loudon & Bolivar Heights & Portions of South & Short Mountains with the Positions of the Defensive Works also the Junction of the Potomac & Shenandoah Rivers & Their Passage through the Blue Ridge.” Map 2) is titled “Map of the Vicinity of Hagerstown, Funkstown, Williamsport & Falling Waters, MD. Accompanying the Report of Maj. Gen. G. G. Meade on the Battle of Gettysburg, Oct. 1st 1863.” NY. 1891. Colored. 16X27. Both maps shows topographical details, indicating towns & villages, roads and railroads, rivers & elevations & Army Positions. Published by Julius Bien (1826-1909) a well-known 19th century lithographer the maps were issued in “The Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union & Confederate Armies 1861-1865. A fine lithograph in very good condition.

CP171 - J. FISHER “Baye De La Delaware Avec Les Ports, Sondes, Dangers, Bancs, Etc. Dupuis Les Caps Jusqu'a Philadelphie d'Apres La Carte de Joshua Fisher Publiee a Philadelphie A Paris. Chez Le Rouge. 1777. Avec Privilege du Roi.” Paris. 1778. B/W. 18½X25¼. This fine chart was drawn by Joshua Fisher (1707-1783) in 1756 from his surveys of the Delaware River from it's entrance at Cape Henlopen and Cape May upriver to Philadelphia. After only a few copies were distributed, the chart was suppressed by Governor Robert Hunter Morris, for fear it would get into the hands of the French. However, Fisher had it re-engraved later on, on a smaller scale, which was reproduced extensively at the start of the Revolutionary War including this copy which was published by George le Rouge in Paris in 1777 in his “Atlas Ameriquain” The chart is very detailed showing depth soundings in the River, shoals, & the Main Ship Channel, with small islands, inlets & harbors along the shore. Locates Newcastle, Wilmington, Chester, Gloucester & a block plan of the City of Philadelphia. At the top of the chart are listings of the 22 pilots & 20 masters of vessels who were the original subscribers in 1756 plus tide tables for mariners using the chart. Includes a compass rose in lower left with fleur-de-lys motif. (Ref. “Maps & Charts Published in America Before 1800.” By J. C. Wheat & C. E. Brun.) Very good condition.

CP175 - E. BLUNT “Entrance to the Chesapeake Bay Reduced from the Surveys Made by D. P. Adams & Others by Order of the Navy Commissioners of the U. S.” New York 1854. Colored. 7X8½. Finely engraved chart shows Cape Charles & Cape Henry on either side of the Entrance, with courses, the Bay Channel & the Middle Ground & soundings along the shorelines. Depicts Hampton Roads, Fort Calhoun, the James and York Rivers, Mob Jack Bay & Old Plantation Flats. Engraved & published by Edmund and George William Blunt, in New York for the American Coast Pilot of 1854. 17th Edition.

CP176 - E. BLUNT “The Bay & River of Delaware.” New York 1841. Colored. 7½X½. Finely engraved chart shows Cape May & Cape Henlopen at the entrance, called on the chart the Capes of Delaware. Depicts courses & the Cape May & New England channels. Chart follows the River to Gloucester & Philadelphia, & the New Jersey Atlantic shoreline from Cape May to Townsend Inlet & Great Egg Harbor. Engraved & published by Edmund & George William Blunt for the American Coast Pilot, in 1841, 14th Edition.

CP177 - GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE “A Map of that Part of America Where a Degree of Latitude was Measured for the Royal Society. By Chas. Mason & Jere Dixon.” London 1769. Colored. This attractive small map shows the Mason-Dixon Line dividing Pennsylvania & Maryland. The line however, was originally drawn to settle a dispute between the Calvert family who owned Maryland and William Penn who owned the territory that became Pennsylvania along with the Delmarva Peninsula. The Calvert & Penn families had been given their lands by the English Kings, Chsrles I and Charles II, in 1632 & 1682, but the boundary lines were never accurately drawn and in 1750 the families decided to appeal to the British Court in London to have their boundary lines redrawn by responsible & knowledgeable surveyors. Accurate surveying was still in its infancy but the Chief Justice in London appointed two reputable Englishmen, Charles Mason, an astronomer and Jeremiah Dixon a surveyor, to go to America & to start working on a boundary line that was to start 15 miles south of Philadelphia. It took them 4 years of arduous work from 1763-1767 to complete the task. The map shown here illustrates an article published in the Gentleman's Magazine in London in 1769 which details the standards used by Mason & Dixon in determining latitudes, degrees & distances used by them to draw new & accurate boundary lines required to appease the families & resolve the dispute. The map was drawn for the Royal Society in London, whose members were scientists, astronomers, inventors, mathematicians & intellectuals who were often called upon for their expertise & opinion in solving disputes & were frequently involved in matters regarding the Colonies. ( Note a copy of the Gentleman's Magazine for 1769 is included with the map.)

CP178 - UNITED STATES COAST & GEODETIC SURVEY “General Chart of the Delaware & Chesapeake Bays and the Seacoast from Cape May to Cape Henry.” Wash. D.C. 1855. (corrected to 1882). Under the Direction of F. R. Hassler & A. D. Bache. Superintendents.31X24. Colored. Large striking chart depicts all of Chesapeake Bay with rivers & islands & primary harbors. Locates Baltimore, Annapolis, Norfolk & includes the Potomac River & Washington . D.C. Also depicts Cape May & Cape Henlopen at the entrance to Delaware Bay. Depicts thousands of depth soundings, & includes notes on tides, buoys & beacons, tides & dangers along with detailed sailing directions for navigators entering the area from offshore locations. A fine chart in very good condition. 

CP179 - J. N. BELLIN “Carte De La Virginie, De La Baye Chesapeak et Pays Voisins.” Paris. 1757. Colored. 7½ X11½ . Fine early map depicts Chesapeake Bay with parts of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware & New Jersey. Shows the Severn River & the harbor of Annapolis, the York River with Hampton, Gloucester, & Norfolk & the entrance to Delaware Bay at Cape May & Cape Henlopen. Includes all harbors along the coast & major towns & villages inland. The map was engraved by Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1702-1772), the Director of the Depot de la Marine in Paris & published in Prevost’s ‘L’Histoire Generale des Voyages” in 1757. Includes a decorative title cartouche in lower right ornamented with scrolls, leaves & flowers. Finely detailed & attractive. 

CP180 - H. MOLL “Virginia & Maryland. By H. Moll. Geographer.” London 1711-1717. 10½X8. Colored. Intensely detailed map of Chesapeake Bay shows all the counties from Baltimore & Arundel down to I. of Wight & Norfolk. Depicts cities, towns & rivers flowing into the Bay & includes the entrance to Delaware Bay at Cape May, New Jersey & Cape Henlopen in Essex county. Also shows the English & Indian Plantations indicated by small synbols drawn between the rivers & forested areas. Locates shoals at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay with Cape Charles & Cape Henry & depicts all the islands in the Bay & along the shoreline. This attractive map was drawn to depict the newly settled areas in Virginia & Maryland in the early 18th century. Drawn & engraved under the direction of Herman Moll (c.1654-1732) one of London’s most famous geographers & mapmakers. Published in “Atlas Geographicus or a Compleat System of Geography.” A fine map with attractive early coloring.  

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