Jubilee and Philp Rivers and their Tributaries New Guinea. Showing the Discoveries made by the “Victory” Expedition, under the Command of Mr. Theodore Bevan.

Jubilee and Philp Rivers and their Tributaries, New Guinea. H. Sharbau, 1887.

Scarce engraved c.19th map published in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society in 1887, this detailed map illustrates the exploration of the Jubilee and Philp River systems in the Gulf of Papua during Theodore Bevan’s expedition of the same year. Based upon surveys undertaken from the expedition steamer Victory, it records one of the earliest systematic attempts to chart the extensive river networks penetrating the largely unknown interior of south-eastern New Guinea.

The map delineates the expedition’s route together with the principal rivers, tributaries and surrounding topography, reflecting the growing geographical knowledge of a region that remained only partially explored by Europeans during the late nineteenth century. The waterways were regarded as potential routes into the interior, attracting considerable scientific, commercial and colonial interest at a time when Britain was consolidating its presence in Papua.  Drawn by H. Sharbau, one of the Royal Geographical Society’s principal cartographers, the map exemplifies the Society’s commitment to publishing the latest geographical discoveries based on original field observations.

Although subsequent surveys refined the course and extent of several rivers, this map remains an important contemporary record of one of the earliest British exploratory expeditions into the river systems of Papua and provides valuable insight into the evolving cartographic understanding of New Guinea during the colonial era.