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Description

A scarce and highly detailed Spanish Hydrographical chart, extending from the Jupiter, Florida area to about Long Key, and including a large portion of the Island of Cuba and much of the Bahamas.

The detail of the soundings, ports, harbors, keys, inlets, islands, reefs, etc., is nothing short of remarkable. Ft. Jupiter, Ft. Lauderdale, and Ft. Dallas are shown, as are Boca Ratones and Jessups Battleground in 1838. A wonderful large format map.

Condition Description
Original silk edges, with some loss.
Direccion Hidrografica de Madrid Biography

The Dirección de Hidrografía, or the Directorate of Hydrographic Works, was established in 1797. Its roots were in the Casa de Contratación, founded in 1503 in Sevilla, which housed all the charts of the Spanish Empire and oversaw the creation and maintenance of the padrón real, the official master chart. The Casa, now in Cadiz, was shuttered in 1790, but Spain still needed a hydrographic body. In response, the Dirección was created in 1797. One of its first projects was the publication of charts from the Malaspina Expedition (1789-1794). The Dirección oversaw not only publication, but also surveying. The Dirección was abolished in the early twentieth century, when their work was distributed to other organizations.