JEFFERYS, Thomas (1719-1771,) William FULLER and William Gerard DE BRAHM (1717-1799)

Plan of Amelia Island in East Florida [and] A Chart of the Entrance into St. Mary's River taken by Capt. W. Fuller in November 1769 [and] A Chart of the Mouth of Nassau River and the Soundings on it taken at Low Water by Captn. W. Fuller

London: Thomas Jefferys, 26 March 1770. Copper-engraved map with original outline and wash colour, in excellent condition. Sheet size: 22 x 26 1/8 inches.

A rare and extremely fine eighteenth-century set of sea charts of Amelia Island, presented on one sheet, produced by the British royal cartographer.

This superb map sheet contains three maps of Amelia Island in northeastern Florida and vicinity, and was at the time the most accurate sea chart of the area ever produced. The great skill of Thomas Jefferys, who had established himself as the era's leading cartographer of America, is evinced by the present work. With great elegance and clarity, it expresses the results of detailed coastal surveys conducted by the sea captain William Fuller. At the time that this map was made, this area was part of the British colony of East Florida, which was ceded by Spain following the end of the Seven Years War in 1763. The map that makes up the left-hand quarter of the sheet, Plan of Amelia Island, depicts the long, narrow island in its entirety, with its tidal marshes and the sand dunes that act as a natural protective barrier to the sea, expressed in finely engraved detail. It is directly derived from a part of William Gerard De Brahm's monumental Map of South Carolina & Georgia (1757). The largest map, A Chart of the Entrance into St. Mary's River, located to the upper-right, features the northern end of the island and the waterway that runs in between it and Cumberland Island, Georgia. The river features numerous depth soundings and the locations of the shifting shoals that posed a great threat to mariners. The plan of the "New Settlement," with its ordered grid of streets planned by the British, is depicted near the northern tip of Amelia Island. Across the river on Cumberland Island, the outlines of the abandoned Fort William are depicted. Founded in the 1740s by Georgia governor James Oglethorpe, it was built to guard the southern approaches of the colony from the Spaniards, who were based in nearby St. Augustine. This map also features a fine navigator's view of the entrance of the river, in the upper right corner. The map below, A Chart of the Mouth of the Nassau River, like the former map features a great deal of hydrographical information as well as sailing instructions for mariners. It details the waterway that runs past the southern tip of Amelia Island, in between it and Talbot Island. It is today the location of the main shipping lane leading into the port of Jacksonville.

Phillips, A List of Maps of America, p.281.

Item #29762

Price: $7,500.00