[BRITISH COLUMBIA]. Carta Esferica de las reconocimientos hechos en 1792,... Entrada de Juan Fuca [and] Carta Esferica de los Reconocimientos Hechos en la Costa No. De America. Spain: 1797-1798

[BRITISH COLUMBIA]. Carta Esferica de las reconocimientos hechos en 1792 en la Costa N.O. de America para Examinar la Entrada de Juan Fuca, y la internacion de sus Canales navigables, Levantada De Orden Del Rey Nuestro Señor abordo de los Goletas Sutil y Mexicana, Por D. Dinonisio Galiano y D. Cayetano Valdés Capitanes de Navio de la Rl. Armada Año 1795 | Nota Los Numeros de la Sonda son brazos de á 2 varas castellanos | Advertencia --- | [view] Canal de la Salida de los Goletas --- | Juan Morino Tejada la grabó. | [upper right margin] Numo. Io.

Fine folding engraved chart (22 2/8 x 34 6/8 inches), laid down on coral coloured linen in 24 sections, showing Vancouver Island, a portion of the mainland coast, and the Puget Sound area, with an inset of the Canal de la Salida de los Goletas, and a legend lower left, the title within a discreet cartouche upper right, lines of latitude and longitude, number I in the upper righthand corner, with the engraved label of Charles Picquet, Geographe, Paris on the verso, and a vellum finger tab

[WITH]

Carta Esferica de los Reconocimientos Hechos en la Costa No. De America desde la parte en que empiezan á angostar Los Canales De La Entrada De Juan De Fuca hasta la solida de las Goletas Sutil y Mexicana Año De 1795 | [view] Vista de la entrada de Nutka --- | [view] Vista del Cabo Frontera --- | Joaquin Ballestra la grabó. | [upper right margin] Numo. IIo.

Fine folding engraved chart (22 4/8 x 34 4/8 inches), laid down on coral coloured linen in 24 sections. An extremely detailed rendition of the coast of the northern part of Vancouver Island, including the “Isla de Nutka,” and the entrance to the Sound, with insets of Vista de la entrada de Nutka and Vista del Cabo Frontera upper right, the title middle right, lines of latitude and longitude, number II in the upper righthand corner, with the engraved label of Charles Picquet, Geographe, Paris on the verso, and a vellum finger tab. Housed together in a custom slipcase and chemise.

Provenance: Maggs catalogue 10, item 71; from the important cartographical library of Warren Heckrotte, his sale, Rare Cartography, Exploration and Voyages, Part I, 29th October, 2015, lot 136

The place names, which are in Spanish, are those given by Vancouver, Galiano and Valdés, and by Malaspina during his voyage of 1791. "Most of those retained today, however, were derived from Vancouver, through their popularization by Arrowsmith, and not from the extremely limited circulation of this chart, which remained unknown to most nineteenth-century cartographers" (Howell 52 049). Phillips, Atlases 4155. Wagner, Northwest Coast 832.

Two important charts, the first covering the whole of Vancouver Island; the second, part of Vancouver Island from Nutka north. They are both quite rare, as is the case for most of the official Spanish maps or charts. They result from the voyage of the two Spanish ships, Sutil and Mexicana, to the northwest coast in 1792. These are the first printed charts of that region based upon extensive and scientific surveys. Though dated 1795, they were published sometime in 1797-1798, and are contemporaneous with Vancouver's charts. The Advertencia seems to say that the Straits of Juan de Fuca have been shown to exist, but they do not connect with the Atlantic. The discoveries, the deeds, the difficulties will be found in the narrative of the voyage.  Wagner Northwest Coast 832, 833. Decker II, 1353, 1354. Majors, p37. P-LG 4155.