About this collection

Antique Sea Charts presents the sea charts and maritime prints of Bartele Gallery, a dealer in antique maps and prints in Langweer, the Netherlands. Bartele Gallery is the seller of every piece on this site.

For three centuries the sea was learned from paper. In the 1600s the Dutch publishers of Amsterdam, Van Keulen, De Wit, Blaeu and their rivals, sold sea atlases and pilot guides to every navy and merchant fleet in Europe. In the 1700s the French and English hydrographers charted the coasts of Africa, Asia and the Americas, and the great voyages of Anson and Cook brought back the first charts of the Pacific. Engravers followed the ships into harbour, and drew the fleets, the battles and the busy quays.

The charts and prints here come from those atlases, pilot guides, voyage accounts and illustrated papers. Every one is a period original, printed in its own day and often coloured by hand. The date given is the date the sheet was printed. Where a date is uncertain, we say so.

The four collections

• Sea charts: Coasts, shoals and soundings, from the Dutch masters on.
• Voyages of discovery: Cook, Anson and the Pacific, charted for the first time.
• Harbours & ports: Amsterdam, London, New Orleans and the busy quays.
• Ships & sea battles: Galleons, men-of-war and ironclads.

Questions about a chart: info@antiqueseacharts.com.