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C1783
Carte des declinaisons et inclinaisons de L’aiguille aimantee redigee de;apres la table des observations magnetiques faites par les voyageurs depuis le; annee 1775.
Mapmaker:
Rare large scale c.18th French map of Australia, one of eight maps published to accompany Buffon’s treatise on magnetism by Jean-Charles Borda the French cartographer, mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and mariner. This is one of the few C18th maps to … Read Full Description
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Full Title:
Carte des declinaisons et inclinaisons de L’aiguille aimantee redigee de;apres la table des observations magnetiques faites par les voyageurs depuis le; annee 1775.
Date:
C1783
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition, with folds as issued. Uncoloured as issued with wide uncut margins.
Technique:
Copper engraving.
Image Size:
530mm
x 415mm
Paper Size:
554mm
x 460mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1783
Description:
Rare large scale c.18th French map of Australia, one of eight maps published to accompany Buffon’s treatise on magnetism by Jean-Charles Borda the French cartographer, mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and mariner. This is one of the few C18th maps to solely focus on Australia.
The map shows the discoveries made by James Cook on his first voyage of exploration 1768-1771, which set the boundaries for the previously unknown east coast of Australia. Also shown, are some of the earlier Dutch discoveries in the northern, western and southern coast (Terre Nuyts). A dotted line for the as yet undiscovered southern coast from the Australian Bight to the western and eastern limits of Bass Strait is marked.
In 1784 Borda was appointed as France’s Inspector of Naval Shipbuilding, and with the assistance of the naval architect Jacques-Noël Sané in 1786 introduced a massive construction programme to revitalise the French navy. The French voyages of scientific discovery and exploration in the Pacific and Australian waters in the late C18th and early C19th were a direct result of the success of this program.
Uncoloured as issued with wide uncut margins.
References:
Not in Tooley or Prescott
Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 263375
National Library Australia: Bib ID 263375
Jean-Charles de Borda (1733 - 1799)
Borda was a French mathematician, physicist, and sailor. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1764. for his Mémoire sur le mouvement des projectiles. Borda was a mariner and a scientist, spending time in the Caribbean testing out advances in chronometers. He entered the French Navy as an engineer, making improvements to waterwheels and pumps. He was appointed as France's Inspector of Naval Shipbuilding in 1784, and with the assistance of the naval architect Jacques-Noël Sané in 1786 introduced a massive construction programme to revitalise the French navy based on the standard designs of Sané. In 1770, Borda formulated a ranked preferential voting system that is referred to as the Borda count. The French Academy of Sciences used Borda's method to elect its members for about two decades until it was quashed by Napoleon Bonaparte who insisted that his own method be used after he became president of the Académie in 1801. The Borda count is in use today in some academic institutions, competitions and several political jurisdictions. The Borda count has also served as a basis for other methods such as the Quota Borda system and Nanson's method. In 1778, he published his method of reducing Lunar Distances for computing the longitude, still regarded as the best of several similar mathematical procedures for navigation and position-fixing in pre-chronometer days. Another of his contributions is his construction of the standard metre, basis of the metric system to correspond to the measurements of Delambre. As an instrument maker, he improved the reflecting circle and the repeating circle.
