James Imray and Son
1876

Gulf of Mexico New Orleans to Tampico Mexico

Gulf of Mexico. Chart No. 2. New Orleans to Tampico. Compiled from Surveys made by order of the UNITED STATE GOVERNMENT.

DESCRIPTION: A spectacular, huge (6' foot) antique British privately-published blueback nautical chart of the western Gulf of Mexico in very fine condition. Scarce to find this chart, especially an example kept in such great shape as this one. Chart coverage includes United States coastal areas from New Orleans, Louisiana trending west and then south to Tampico, Mexico. Contains the oval blue inked over-stamp that reads "James Imray and Son, 1876, London."

Note: Because of its large size the photo is stitched together from 2 halves. Some abberations in the image may appear.

This old chart is dotted with numeous inset large-scale charts of key ports and important bays, rivers and harbors including: Galveston, Texas; Atchafalya Bay, Louisiaana, Sabine Pass, Matagorga Bay, Rio Grande, and Tampico, Mexico.

During the 1800's there was a trend toward publication of very large small-scale charts with large-scale insets of key passages and harbors. The practice was adopted as much for economics as any other reason. James Imray and Son was one of a handful of British publishers who specialized in these charts which were often backed with canvas or linen cloth or heavy blue paper in order to help them withstand the frequent use and abuse aboard ship, hence the term "blueback chart".

Outer blue paper contains yellow a large seller's label with the logo of James Imray amd Son. Price when sold 10 s.

CREATOR: James Imray and Son

PUBLICATION DATE: 1876

GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States

BODY OF WATER: Gulf of Mexico

CONDITION: Very Good. About the best possible condition imaginable for a 140 year-old sea chart. Very clean and unmarked. Only flaw is that the bottom margin has been trimmed shorter with loss of the author's attribution in the margin. No loss to the map image.

COLORING: None except some lighthouses are highlighted in yellow, as issued.

ENGRAVER:

SIZE: 75 " x 36 "

ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 1409

PRICE: $4800

ADD TO CART

This web site provides security by Rapid SSL

Similar items:

382	Lake Pontchartrain Harbour and Breakwater Fascinating plan of the southern shore of Lake Ponchartrain in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1853. During that era both Bayou St. John and the New Canal (the present Details	1853	Anonymous	Lake-Pontchartrain-Harbour-and-Breakwater	Fascinating plan of the southern shore of Lake Ponchartrain in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1853. During that era both Bayou St. John and the New Canal (the present <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_Street_Canal">17th Street Canal</a>) were navigable to small vessels; a lighthouse is shown at the mouth of each canal. The plan shows projected construction of wooden breakwaters in the lake that were designed "to furnish safe anchorage in front of the termini of the Pontchartrain Railroad, Bayou St John, and New Canal…".<BR> </BR> Other depicted features include Milneburg, then a suburb of New Orleans connected to it by the Pontchartrain Railroad, two lighthouses, and the Jefferson and Lake Pontchartrain Railroad in what is now Jefferson Parish. Construction details of the wooden breakwater are shown in profile and elevation. <BR> </BR> Today neither of the two railroad lines linking New Orleans to the Lakefront exist. Neither Bayou St. John nor the 17th Street Canal (a large drainage ditch) are navigable. In fact a section of the 17th Street Canal failed after Hurricane Katrina and was responsible for flooding a large part of New Orleans and at least 31 deaths. The deadly breach in the canal can be located on the plan near the bottom of the shaded high land directly adjacent to the New Canal. <BR> </BR> Dated October 30th, 1853. Printed by Wagner and Mc Guigan Lithographers, Philadelphia. For reference see:
557	1914 Inside Route Pilot Key West to New Orleans Very scarce, intact 1914 Coast Pilot with six strip charts and sailing directions for what is now the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, from Key West, Florida heading north and then west . . .	Details	1914	U-S--Coast-and-Geodetic-Survey	1914-Inside-Route-Pilot-Key-West-to-New-Orleans	Very scarce, intact 1914 Coast Pilot with six strip charts and sailing directions for what is now the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, from Key West, Florida heading north and then west to New Orleans, Louisiana. Published by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Contains 93 pages of text plus an index. <br><br/> In its early history some portions of the 'inside route' were owned and dredged by private entities who charged a toll to vessels for passage, sometimes by stringing a chain across narrow passages to restrict traffic flow. After 1919 Congress mandated that the entire passage should be turned over to the Federal government and the tolls were eliminated. <br><br/> The sailing directions for Bayou St. John describe a moment in time that New Orleans residents can only imagine today: <dir class="indenttextblock">The channel at the entrance is protected by training walls on each side. Spanish Fort is a pleasure resort at the mouth of Bayou St. John and is connected with New Orleans by an electric car line... Small craft of all kinds use the bayou as far as Esplanade Street, about 2 3/4 miles above the entrance, but pleasure boats rarely go above that point." </dir> Size of each chart when folded is approximately 8" x 5". The pilot's lithographed working navigational charts capture the full extent of the southern U.S. Inside Route in detail. Chart sections include roughly these areas and chart sizes: (fully opened, height is 10" and width is listed below). <br> 1. Key West to Matanzas Pass - 24"<br> 2. Matanzas Pass to Clearwater - 23"<br> 3. Clearwater to Tampa - 27"<br> 4. Tampa to St. Andrews Sound - 24"<br> 5. St. Andrews Sound to Bay St. Louis - 36"<br> 6. Bay St. Louis to New Orleans. - 23"<br> <br><br/> If they were placed end to end, the charts would extend over 13 feet long. Original price 20 cents. Published by the Government Printing Office in Washington DC in 1915.
1057	Antique chart of the mouth of the Mississippi River One of the earliest available charts to focus solely on the passes at the mouth of the Mississippi River, then considered by the French to be their overseas possession. The locat . . .	Details	1744	Bellin--Jacques-Nicolas	Antique-chart-of-the-mouth-of-the-Mississippi-River	One of the earliest available charts to focus solely on the passes at the mouth of the Mississippi River, then considered by the French to be their overseas possession. The location covered by this chart lies roughly 75 miles southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana which had only been founded in 1718 by the French Mississippi Company, under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. <br></br> This is the first and earliest of two small charts by the Depot de la Marine; the later chart appeared in Bellin's 1764 "Le Petit Atlas Maritime". This chart is characterized by numerous descriptions of the hydrography ("recif" or reef; "bancs de vase molle" or soft mudflats; and "le bare") but contains no depth soundings. The southwest pass is particularly interesting for it is labeled "Embouchure par ou les vaisseau entrant" or mouth where vessels enter. Just inside the mouth near two reefs a small ship is depicted aground ("V[aisse]au Echoué"). Further up the channel ("Chenal") is Fort de la Balise (Fr. seamark). At that spot the French constructed a 62 foot high pyramidal wooden tower (the Balise) in 1721. <br></br> This chart was undoubtedly based on observations prior to 1740 when the Balise was destroyed by a hurricance. Bellin's later 1764 chart shows no structure at that location, just a mass of debris.
1069	Maps of French Colonial New Orleans and the Mississippi River Scarce early plan of New Orleans, Louisiana with insets of the mouth of the Mississippi River and also a long stretch of the Mississippi river from south of Donaldsonville to the p . . .	Details	1769	Tirion--Isaac	Maps-of-French-Colonial-New-Orleans-and-the-Mississippi-River	Scarce early plan of New Orleans, Louisiana with insets of the mouth of the Mississippi River and also a long stretch of the Mississippi river from south of Donaldsonville to the passes. Published less than 50 years after the founding of New Orleans, Tirion's map of New Orlean's French Quarter is derived from an earlier map by Jacques Bellin / Brion de la Tour but contains additional details outside the French Quarter, which was largely marsh land at that time, including a road to Bayou St. John, a key trade route to the city from the east. <br></br> The sheet with three views is based on the layout of Thomas Jefferys earlier work (1759), who borrowed the earlier works of Jacques Bellin, of France's Depot de la Marine. Text is in German. <br></br> Isaak Tirion, (1705 - 1765) was a Dutch publisher who produced serveral atlases and Dutch town plans from the Kalverstraat, in Amsterdam. Tirion produced eight atlases in multiple editions
1178	1822 Antique map of the New Orleans, Louisiana vicinity Scarce (1822) copperplate engraved map of New Orleans by John Melish. Map is uncommon. Coverage includes Bayou St. John, the lower shore of Lake Ponchartrain and a stretch of the M . . .	Details	1822	Melish--John	1822-Antique-map-of-the-New-Orleans--Louisiana-vicinity	Scarce (1822) copperplate engraved map of New Orleans by John Melish. Map is uncommon. Coverage includes Bayou St. John, the lower shore of Lake Ponchartrain and a stretch of the Mississippi river below New Orleans. Legend at bottom graphically identifies two types of swamp surrounding New Orleans: "Cypress Swamp" and "Prairie Swamp". <br></br> Melish's named features include: <div class="indenttextblock"> <ul style="list-style-type: circle;"> <li>Fort St. John</li> <li>Borough of St. John</li> <li>Suburb of Marigny</li> <li>Bayou Sauvage and the Road to Chef Menteur</li> <li>English Turn</li> <li>Woodsville</li> <li>Lake Lery</li> <li>The Ouatchas River</li> </ul> </div> Contains several notes related to the Battle of 1812 with the landing site and route of British forces identified. <br></br> From Melish's "A Geographical Description of the United States, with the Contiguous British and Spanish Possessions." Philadelphia, 1822.