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Sold in Bordeaux by Fillastre Freres
This 1837 French sea chart covers a vast expanse from the Cape of Good Hope in the southwest to Formosa (Taiwan) and the Philippines in the northeast. The present example was separately published and purchased for use at sea by Fillastre Freres in Bordeaux.
The chart represents a highly detailed snapshot of the Indian Ocean’s maritime geography during the first half of the 19th century. Also included is the western half of Australia—referred to by its early Dutch names such as "Nouvelle Hollande"—reflecting a legacy of earlier European exploration.
By the time this chart was published, European—especially British—exploration of Australia’s coast had been ongoing for over three decades. Notably, Matthew Flinders had completed the first full circumnavigation of Australia by 1803, producing charts that significantly improved European understanding of the continent’s coastline. Flinders’ Voyage to Terra Australis, published in 1814, had helped redefine coastal geography, especially along the south and southeast coasts. Later surveys, including those by Phillip Parker King between 1817 and 1822, further mapped the northern and northwestern shores, filling in crucial navigational data. By the 1830s, French and British maritime authorities, including the Dépôt-général de la Marine, had access to much of this cartographic information, which informed this map's rendering of the Australian coastline.
Despite the advances, the interior of Australia remained blank on this chart, reflecting how sea charts of the period focused almost exclusively on coastlines, ports, reefs, and shoals. The persistence of Dutch place names—legacies of 17th-century voyages by Abel Tasman and others—shows how early Dutch nomenclature remained embedded in European maps even as British colonial occupation expanded.
The Indian Ocean had long served as a conduit of maritime trade, but in the early 19th century, it entered a new phase shaped by European colonial powers, particularly the British and French. Britain’s control of India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and strategic ports like Aden and Mauritius allowed it to dominate shipping lanes connecting Europe, East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The Cape Route—via the Cape of Good Hope—remained essential for ships sailing between Europe and the Indian subcontinent, especially before the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
Important trading stops shown on the map include Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Zanzibar, Muscat, and Batavia (modern Jakarta). French interests centered on Réunion and Pondicherry, while Dutch influence still lingered in the East Indies. The chart also reflects increased interest in hydrographic accuracy, with soundings given in brasses françaises (French fathoms), along with a conversion table to meters, demonstrating the growing scientific approach to navigation.
The Dépôt de la Marine, known more formally as the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine, was the central charting institution of France. The centralization of hydrography in France began in earnest when Jean-Baptiste Colbert became First Minister of France in 1661. Under his watch, the first Royal School of Hydrography began operating, as did the first survey of France’s coasts (1670-1689). In 1680, Colbert consolidated various collections of charts and memoirs into a single assemblage, forming the core of sources for what would become the Dépôt.
The Dépôt itself began as the central deposit of charts for the French Navy. In 1720, the Navy consolidated its collection with those government materials covering the colonies, creating a single large repository of navigation. By 1737, the Dépôt was creating its own original charts and, from 1750, they participated in scientific expeditions to determine the accurate calculation of longitude.
In 1773, the Dépôt received a monopoly over the composition, production, and distribution of navigational materials, solidifying their place as the main producer of geographic knowledge in France. Dépôt-approved charts were distributed to official warehouses in port cities and sold by authorized merchants. The charts were of the highest quality, as many of France’s premier mapmakers worked at the Dépôt in the eighteenth century, including Philippe Bauche, Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, Rigobert Bonne, Jean Nicolas Buache, and Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré.
The Dépôt continued to operate until 1886, when it became the Naval Hydrographic Service. In 1971, it changed names again, this time to the Naval and Oceanographic Service (SHOM). Although its name has changed, its purpose is largely the same, to provide high quality cartographic and scientific information to the France’s Navy and merchant marine.
![[ Australia called Notasie ou Nouvelle Hollande ] Carte De L'Oceanie Contenant L'Australe, La Polynesie et Les Iles Asiatique . . . 1838](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/99649.jpg)
