| | Thumbnail | | Creator | Date | Title / Author / Date / Location | Price | | | Description |
| 757 |  | Details | Beautemps-Beaupre, Charles-Francois | 1793 |
| Carte Generale de la Partie du Grand Archipel d'Asie |
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Beautemps-Beaupre, Charles-Francois |
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| 1793 |
| LOC:59 |
| $2,550.00 | Beautemps-Beaupre--Charles-Francois | Carte-Generale-de-la-Partie-du-Grand-Archipel-d-Asie | The Singapore Library web site sums up the significance of this scarce map of Asia: "Map of Indonesia showing tracks of Recherche and Esperance in 1792-1793. This map is part of the great archipelago of Asia, recognized by Rear Admiral Bruny-Dentrecasteaux, in 1792 and 1793" (1). This very scarce copper-plate engraved map is by Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré (1766-1854). Charts by Beautemps-Beaupre are scarce. Only one other instance of this map is found in the AMPR.
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On thick wove paper.
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Chart of the waters and islands lying to the north of Australia including portions of the Ceram Sea, Arafura Sea, Banda Sea, and Molucca Sea, Key geographical features include a passage labeled "Dampier Strait", Waigeo ( Waigiou ), Batanta, Ceram, Ambon, Northern New Guinea, and Sulawesi ( Celebes ) and Timor. Much of the coastline of these islands is left blank because as of 1793 they were still uncharted and unexplored.
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The map shows the track of two ships, the Recherche and Espérance , as they conducted an expedition (1791 - 1793) led by French Rear-Admiral Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni d'Entrecasteaux to find the missing ships of Jean-François de La Pérouse of whom nothing had been heard since March 1788.
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C.F. Beautemps-Beaupre was one of the earliest hydrographers to use isobaths to represent water depth. Beautemp-Beaupres' many contributions to hydrography and his dedication to his profession is the reason he is sometimes referred to as the 'father of French hydrography'.
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(1) Source online: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/printheritage/detail/61fb49ca-26e8-49cb-8e93-5f3558b123d2.aspx |