Sophia Raffles
Sketch Map of the Island of Singapore, 1830
8 ½ x 13 ½ in
21 x 34 cm
21 x 34 cm
SEAS5426
This significant map of Singapore Island was present in 'The Memoirs of the Life and Public Services of Sir Stamford Thomas Raffles.' Cartographically, the map is based on the manuscript...
This significant map of Singapore Island was present in "The Memoirs of the Life and Public Services of Sir Stamford Thomas Raffles."
Cartographically, the map is based on the manuscript map produced by the survey of Captain James Franklin, a land surveyor from Bengal. He was assisted by Francis Bernard, son – in – law to William Farquar, the first resident on the island. The manuscript was produced in 1822 and is perceived to be the first accurate depiction of the island. Its first printed version is believed to have been in John Crawfurd’s “ A Journal of an Embassy from the Governor General of India to the Courts of Siam and Cochin-China”. Crawfurd was an experienced and educated officer of the British East India Company and from 1823-6, he was the Resident of Singapore, having succeeded Sir Stamford Raffles.
As a first hand source, the Franklin survey of the island rapidly became the main template for its later cartographic depictions, including this early one included in a posthumous memoir of Raffles written by his second wife, Lady Sophia and first published in 1830. It bears the distinction of being one of the first single sheet maps focusing on the island in its new geographical shape. The above-mentioned map enclosed in Crawfurd’s work shares its sheet with the famous “Jackson Plan”, the first plan of Singapore Town.
The example offered here is the first edition of the map issued in 1830. [SEAS5426]
Cartographically, the map is based on the manuscript map produced by the survey of Captain James Franklin, a land surveyor from Bengal. He was assisted by Francis Bernard, son – in – law to William Farquar, the first resident on the island. The manuscript was produced in 1822 and is perceived to be the first accurate depiction of the island. Its first printed version is believed to have been in John Crawfurd’s “ A Journal of an Embassy from the Governor General of India to the Courts of Siam and Cochin-China”. Crawfurd was an experienced and educated officer of the British East India Company and from 1823-6, he was the Resident of Singapore, having succeeded Sir Stamford Raffles.
As a first hand source, the Franklin survey of the island rapidly became the main template for its later cartographic depictions, including this early one included in a posthumous memoir of Raffles written by his second wife, Lady Sophia and first published in 1830. It bears the distinction of being one of the first single sheet maps focusing on the island in its new geographical shape. The above-mentioned map enclosed in Crawfurd’s work shares its sheet with the famous “Jackson Plan”, the first plan of Singapore Town.
The example offered here is the first edition of the map issued in 1830. [SEAS5426]
