Description
Very rare chart by Matthew Flinders from the huge elephant folio issue of his seminal atlas, of which only 150 were printed on fine wove paper. All the double page charts in this issue have only the centre fold, unlike the ‘standard’ quarto issue where all the double page charts were folded a number times to match the size of the two account volumes of the voyages.
Flinders’s charts were very accurate and were used by navigators for over a century. The Admiralty issued updated versions of the charts from time to time as new explorations and discoveries neccessitated alterations. Collectors should take care to ensure that the charts are from the first edition and not the later Admiralty issue which are identified as in our map bearing the imprint below the printed black ruled line; Published as the Act Directs by G & W Nichol 20 Jany. 1814.
Chart no. 3 from Flinders, M.A., Voyage to Terra Australis; undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that Vast Country,…. London 1814
The charts extends from Cape Arid to the South Australian border where Flinders was stunned to discover the towering limestone cliffs of the Great Australian Bight, wondering if they, may even be a narrow barrier between an interior and exterior sea. He continued to search for a break in the cliffs to discover the extent of the country beyond but without success.
At the age of 27 years old, the Admiralty gave Matthew Flinders the immense task of charting the entire Australian coastline, which would not only solve numerous geographical mysteries, but also place the continent firmly in British control. He was given the HMS Xenophon which was renamed HMS Investigator and promoted to commander. Flinders set sail in July 1801 making Australian landfall at Cape Leeuwin on 6 December of the same year. Two days later, he used George Vancouver chart of 1791 to sail the Investigator into the safe harbour of King George’s Sound and stayed until 5 January 1802.
