Maps are one of my most favourite things. While I’ve not developed a collection of any kind, I do have very fond memories of my world travels, and the tiny pocket atlas I carried with me everywhere for nigh on 10 years. I would spend time of an evening, just before sleep in whatever random youth hostel or campsite I might be at, poring over routes, places I had been, places I was keen to travel, the dog-eared pages becoming more and more worn over the years. But maps of antiquity are of even greater interest to me now.
To James Horsburgh Esq. F.R.S.&c.&c., hydrographer to the Honble. East India Company, this general chart from England to China, including the Indian Seas, is respectfully inscribed by his obedient servants, Parbury, Allen & Co.
I came across the above-pictured map at the National Library of Australia website in some web wanderings a few weeks ago, and was impressed by the level of detail it was possible to magnify, but unfortunately there appeared to be no way to save the entire high-resolution document locally. So, I took it upon myself to painstakingly piece together a reasonably high resolution copy of the section of the map featuring our beloved Terra Australis, thinking it would quite possibly be of some use to either myself or some of you!
Terra Australis
Note the names, and/or lack thereof in places: Tasmania is still known as “Van Diemen’s Land”, Western Australia is “New Holland”; Perth isn’t even on the map yet, and is simply known as “New Settlement” — and there’s not even a sign of Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane or Darwin. Sydney is the only major city named outside of Tasmania (and New South Wales is huuuuuuge!), where Hobart and Launceston are both already firmly on the map. I can only assume in those early settlement days that Tasmania was more popular with the British immigrants; the weather would certainly have been more comforting and familiar.
If you would like a copy of the highest resolution version I’ve constructed, it is available here [2.5MB JPG]. Enjoy!
