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Bidding has ended on this item. Item:1774 Alexander Dalrymple 15 CHARTS LUZON PHILIPPINES  |
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Charts of Luzon Copperplate
engravings, 15 charts printed on 9 sheets, London, 1774-1784 We are pleased to offer this set of fifteen extremely scarce original charts related to the Philippine island of Luzon and adjacent islands compiled for the East India Company "according to Act of Parliament" under the direction of the renowned Alexander Dalrymple (1737-1808), the first Admiralty Hydrographer of the Royal Navy. Working from earlier manuscript naval charts, Dalrymple's charts provide a fascinating overview of British exploration and mapping of the region. Many of these charts are identified as the earliest printed British charts to be devoted exclusively to Luzon, and their scarcity cannot be overstated with only a few extant copies identified. This collection of fascinating and historically important charts will make a significant addition to any institutional or private collection of Philippine-related cartography. Most of the charts were compiled, engraved and published for Dalyrmple's 1774-1775 A collection of Plans of Ports in the East Indies but others were added as late as 1784 as additional manuscript charts came to his attention. We begin our survey of the charts with the "Plan of Lampon Bay on the East Coast of Luzon", i.e. Lamon Bay, the islands of Polillo and Alabat and the coast of Luzon along the Polillo Strait. Here Dalrymple drew upon a manuscript chart drawn in 1754 by the Spanish navigator Manuel Gálvez (the original of which is held in the Library of Congress). Printed on a 30 x 24 cm sheet, the chart shows "a deep river" on Luzon "from whence much Timber for Ship-building may be had" and below it "A little Brook which the shortest way to the Laguna":
Polillo Island is said to "abound with Gold and Lign Alloes" (the latter designates agarwood, or in Malay "gaharu"):
Notation regarding Gálvez's exploration of the area:
We next turn to a 34 cm x 24 cm sheet that presents two charts from Spanish sources - a fine chart of the San Miguel Bay near Naga City and again from Gálvez a "Plan of the Port of Seeseeran", i.e. the region around the island of Quinalasag. Both charts are oriented to the west (note half fleur-de-lys compass points) for a "sideways" presentation:
Gálvez's chart shows cocoa plantation on Quinalasag and other islands but curiously does not show the location of the title port:
The chart of San Miguel Bau shows Mt. Isarog pictorially and provides a cryptic note for a charted route "in transporting the treasure" that goes from "Port Seeseeran" (shown on this chart as somewhere in the vicinity of Caramoan) to Calabanga:
A 39 cm x 29 cm sheet (printed from two plates) presents four charts - two from Spanish sources and two from French:
The largest of the charts is the "Plan of the Chief Ports on the Coast of Ylocos in Luzon", i.e. the northwest coast of Luzon in the Ilocos Region, here ranging from Narvacan to Vigan City (Bigan) to Cabugao where Port Salomague is located:
Gálvez provides a chart of Port Salomague although with little detail other than depth soundings for approaching the anchorage:
A chart of Cape Eugano and the islands at the extreme northeast end of Luzon is provided by the astronomer and sometime hydrographer Guillaume Le Gentil (1725-1792):
Le Gentil also provides a chart of the port of Camiguin in the Babuyan Islands north of Luzon:
Continuing further north we come to the Batanes - the northernmost reach of the Philippines. A fine 31 cm x 29.5 cm chart by none other than Jean-François-Marie de Surville (1717-1770) during the course of his famous 1769 voyage in command of the St. Jean Baptiste that inadvertantly ended up in New Zealand:
Surville's detailed notes provide a fascinating snapshots of the islands as he found them in 1769 - Sabtang is named as "Monmouth" as it was so called by William Dampier in 1687 in honour of the Duke of Monmouth James Scott while "Bashee" designates Batan Island:
Moving to another nearby island we find a 29 cm x 22 cm "Plan of the Port of Palapa" (Palapag) on the island of Samar again based on a manuscript chart by Gálvez:
Cattle ranch on adjacent island - chart states that the depth soundings were taken by the Man-of-War Falmouth:
Also adjacent is the island of Mindoro and this 29 x 25 cm plate presents two charts, the principal of which is the "Plan of Palaon Bay on Mindoro" based in part on a chart by the Spanish mariner Thomè Gaspar de Leon but with the continuation of the coast line charted by Dalrymple himself during his voyages on the East India Company schooner Cuddalore in 1761:
Appointed
as the first official Hydrographer to the East India Company in 1779
and later as the first Admiralty Hydrographer in 1795, Dalrymple's name
will forever be associated with that of Captain James Cook.
As a
member of the Royal Society and an experienced mercantilist, explorer
and hydrographer Dalrymple was the choice of the Royal Society to lead
the expedition to observe the transit of Venus that became the voyage
of the Endeavour. However he was not a Navy man, and the
First
Lord of the Admiralty Sir Edward Hawke recalled the disastrous
appointment of the astronomer Halley to lead an expedition in 1698 that
resulted in mutiny and nearly in the loss of the ship. Hawke
swore that he would rather cut off his own right hand than sign another
such commission appointing as Captain someone not from the ranks of the
Royal Navy. Accordingly, Dalrymple was eventually replaced
(and
history would seem to judge the decision as wise) by young Lieutenant
Cook. Dalrymple was also a vocal advocate for the existence
of a
great Terra Australis - a vast southern continent the existence of
which had been speculated for centuries. Cook was dismissive
of
this notion, and his voyages below the Antarctic Circle in the
Resolution put an end to Dalrymple's theories. Despite these
differences, modern historians believe stories of personal animus
towards Cook on the part of Dalrymple are greatly exaggerated at
best.
Dalrymple's reputation has been recently and unfairly tarnished by an abysmally ill-researched book by one Vanessa Collingridge in which the author claims Dalrymple spent only 19 days at sea prior to his nomination to command the Endeavour (in fact he spent three years at sea in the late 1750s and early 1760s on the East India Company schooner Cuddalore alone) and depicts the mild-mannered chart maker as an obsessive sworn enemy of Cook. While it is true that Dalrymple was of course gravely disappointed in not being awarded command of the Endeavour and was further embarrassed by Cook's refutation through his second voyage of Dalrymple's oft-espoused belief in a great southern continent, he in fact admired Cook's accomplishments and was personally instrumental in preparing the account of Cook's third voyages for publication.  The smaller chart on the plate provides a perhaps less than helpful outline of Port St. Andres (Mogpog) on Marinduque - note eastern orientation:
Returning to Luzon we find two charts presented on a 30 cm x 22 cm plate - a "Plan of Capa-Luan", i.e. Pagbilao-Lucena City region (again based on Gálvez) and a chart of Batangas Bay contributed by Captain William Brereton who served as Military Governor of Manila from 1762-1765 during which time he must have found time to explore as he drew up this chart in 1763:
Brereton's coastal profile is somewhat tentative, with Bauan (Bawang) the only settlement shown:
Note narrow isthmus of "Volcano Island":
A fine 29 cm x 21 cm chart of Mariveles Bay at the southern tip of Bataan is derived from mapping by one Commander John Watson in 1764:
Lastly a 28 cm x 21 cm chart of Sorsogon "Harbour", the principal inlet in the southernmost province of Luzon:
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