Striking chart of the North Sea and the English coastline along Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent. On the other sides of the Channel and North Sea, the coastline starts at Calais and Dunkirk in France, northwest to Belgium and north still to the tip of the NetherlandsThe map details the major European cities of Bruges, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Rotterdam with fortifications, and the coastal town of Sheerness also is details a fort, as this is at the mouth of the River Thames.




Further illustration has been given to the sand banks and settlments, soundings are noted across the chart, and the use of rhumb lines (or loxodromes) radiate from a compass rose in the centre of the map and bounce off the coastline.




This chart is dedicated to British Royal Naval Officer and Admiral of the Blew, Sir John Ashby (1646-93). At the Battle of Barfleur and La Hogue between France and an allied force of England and the Netherlands (19th May 1692), Ashby was in command of the H. M. S. Victory as Admiral of Blue (or Blew).







Very strong impression. [GB1685]