Sea charts
Sea charts, coastal charts and harbour plans made for navigators: Dutch Golden Age charts by Van Keulen and De Wit, French charts by Bellin and Mannevillette, English charts by Norie and Imray, with their soundings, shoals and compass roses.
148 pieces
Engraving of a Map of Florida, the Gulf Coast, Caribbean & Central America, 1728
Blaeu Strait of Magellan Map, Tierra del Fuego, Decorative Sea Chart, 1642
Blaeu Virginia and Florida Map, Decorative Early America Chart, 1642
Blaeu Venezuela Map, Decorative Caribbean & Nueva Andalusia Chart 1642
Antique Sea Chart of Hudson Bay and Arctic Canada by Van Keulen, circa 1681
Blaeu Map of Boulogne & Calais Coast, Maritime France, Ships c.1642
Blaeu Map of Île de Ré & Oléron, La Rochelle Coast France, c.1642
Greenland & North America, Antique Sea Chart by Frederick de Wit, 1745
Antique Map of Straits of Makassar by J.W. Norie, Engraved Chart, 1820
Large 1693 Maritime Map of Irish Sea, West Coasts of Ireland, England, Scotland
Large Chart of the island and sea of Java, Indonesia
Sea Chart of Central America and the Northwest Coast of South America, ca.1745
Map of Constantinople, Bosphorus, the Coasts of Greece and the Archipelago, 1785
1717 Johannes Van Keulen Sea Chart of the Eastern Atlantic, Amsterdam to Gambia
Antique Map of Java, Sumatra & Borneo, Dutch East Indies Sea Chart c.1700
Original Antique Sea Chart, the Northern Part of Hispaniola, Western Cuba, 1684
Nautical Chart of Cape Verde Islands by J.W. Norie, 1824 Coastal Map
Rare Sea Chart of the East Frisian Islands or Watten and the North Sea, c.1700
Large Sea Chart of the Zuyder Zee & The Northsea with the Wadden Islands, 1773
Rare Old English Sea Chart of Part of Indonesia with Java, Madura and Bali, 1711
Two Antique Sea Charts of the Thousand Islands between Batavia and Bantam, c1734
Old Decorative & Highly Detailed Sea Chart of the North Dutch-German Coast, 1681
Map of Japanese Coast from Osaka to Tokyo & the Kyushu and Shikoku Islands, 1669
Old Decorative Map of the West African Coast & St. Thomae Island, c.1600
Original Hand-Coloured Nautical Chart of West-Africa, c.1680
Antique Sea Chart Java Indonesia, Mannevillette Neptune Oriental 1775
1690 Frederick de Wit Sea Chart of Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay and Greenland
Shetland Islands Sea Chart, Antique Nautical Map by Ottens Brother c.1745
Original Antique Engraving of a Sea Chart of the Western Mediterranean, ca.1650
Early Chart Identifying British Spice Trading Colony of Bencoolen, Sumatra, 1797
Detailed Decorative Antique Map of the Coast of Malabar and Coromandel, India
Navigational Chart of Jamaica, Cape Gracias a Dios, and the Mosquito Coast, 1775
Decorative Antique Sea Chart of Zeeland, a Province of the Netherlands, ca.1730
Antique Engraving of Dutch and German North Sea Coast of Friesland, ca.1680
Early French Nautical Chart of the Northern Coast of of Java, Indonesia, C.1850
Sea Chart Titled 'Baya de Saldanha' with Robben Island in South Africa, 1726
Beautiful Antique Map of the French Coast, from St. Valeri to Dieppe, 1720
Antique Map of the Dutch Gold Coast in Africa by Van den Bosch '1818'
Large German Chart of the Philippines with Hand-Colored Borders, 1763
Jamaica Map by John Thomson, Kingston & Port Royal Harbors, c.1817
Nautical Chart of Skagerrak and Øresund by Johannes van Keulen, 1680
Large Antique Chart of The White Sea, Russa 1854
Antique Map of the Coast of Angola Up to Port Elizabeth in South Africa, 1675
Original Antique Sea Chart of the Coastline from England to Gibraltar, ca.1700
Map of North and East coast of Asia with Japan & inset maps of Kamchatka, c1750
Rare Map of Six Coast Views and Anchorages of Sierra Leone and Indonesia, 1660
Rare Chart of Indonesia Including Borneo, Java, Celebes, Ceram and More, 1779
Large Copper Engraved Map of the Coastline of Friesland and Terschelling, c.1670
About sea charts
A sea chart is drawn for the person at the helm, not the traveller on land. Where a map shows towns and roads, a chart shows the coastline as seen from the water, the depth of water in soundings, sandbanks and rocks, safe anchorages, and the compass bearings that tie them together. Rhumb lines radiating from compass roses let a navigator lay off a course with a ruler.
The first great printed sea atlases came from Holland. From the 1580s Waghenaer's pilot guides were translated across Europe, and by the 1600s Amsterdam publishers such as Blaeu, Doncker, Goos and above all the Van Keulen family sold charts to every seafaring nation. In the 1700s the French Depot de la Marine under Bellin, and English hydrographers such as Norie and Imray, took over the lead.
Collectors value charts for their accuracy as much as their beauty: a Van Keulen chart was a working document, corrected and reissued for a century. Many in the collection still carry their original hand colour, decorative cartouches and compass roses.
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Questions about sea charts
What is the difference between a sea chart and a map?
A map describes the land; a chart describes the water for navigation. Charts show soundings (depths), shoals, rocks, anchorages and the coastline as seen from a ship, usually with compass roses and rhumb lines for laying off a course.
Who made the best antique sea charts?
In the 1600s the Amsterdam publishers, above all the Van Keulen family, De Wit and Blaeu; in the 1700s the French hydrographers Bellin and Apres de Mannevillette; and in the early 1800s English chart makers such as Norie and Imray.
How should an antique chart be framed?
Use acid-free mount board and UV-filtering glazing, hinge the sheet with reversible paper tape rather than adhesive, and hang it away from direct sunlight. Many charts are wide, so a landscape frame shows them best.