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MAP #: 378E5

CARTOGRAPHER : ELDRIDGE, GEORGE

DATE: 1878

SHORT TITLE : ELDRIDGE'S CHART OF CHESAPEAKE BAY,

REMAINING TITLE & ID : WITH THE JAMES, YORK, RAPPAHANNOCK AND POTOMAC RIVERS. COMPILED FROM THE LATEST SURVEYS BY GEORGE ELDRIDGE, HYDROGRAPHER. PUBLISHED BY S. THAXTER & SON, 125 STATE ST BOSTON, 1878. (NO CARTOUCHE, TOP LEFT CORNER). "G.W. BOYNTON, Sc." (LEFT BOTTOM MARGIN). "ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS IN THE YEAR 1868 BY GEORGE ELDRIDGE & SAMUEL T. CUSHING IN THE CLERKS OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS." (BOTTOM LEFT, INSIDE LONGITUDE SCALE). "ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE BOTTOMS OF THIS CHART", "REFERENCES", "TIDAL NOTES", AND A NOTE ON MOVEMENT PAST BUOYS ENTITLED "AN ACT OF CONGRESS APPROVED SEPT. 28 1850." (BOTTOM LEFT). NO DISTANCE SCALE IS GIVEN. COMPASS ROSES (UPPER RIGHT, CENTER, BELOW CENTER ON RIGHT, AND BOTTOM RIGHT). LONGITUDE FROM GREENWICH (TOP AND BOTTOM BORDERS). LATITUDE (RIGHT AND LEFT BORDERS).

DATE OF PUBLICATION : R1879 (1868)
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : BOSTON
PUBLISHER : S. THAXTER & SON
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 143.2 X 83.2 CM.
SIZE - OTHER DATA : ? X ? CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 246,000 (BASED ON LATITUDE)
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : MSA SC1399-311 (REPRO)
# 2 : MSA SC1399-417 (REPRO - 1868 ST.)
# 3 : MSA SC1399-680 (1871 ST.)
# 4 : MSA SC1399-312 (REPRO - 1879 ST.) HFC ACQ. PRIORITY : 65
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : -
# 2 : -
# 3 : EJL012-HII (1871 ST.)
# 4 : -
REGION CATEGORY : CHART ON WHICH THE MD/CHESAPEAKE AREA IS ONE MAIN FOCUS (1)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) :
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : N IS AT THE TOP OF THE CHART
RELIEF SHOWN ? : NO
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : SOUNDINGS ARE SHOWN IN FEET AND FATHOMS.
: SHOALS ARE SHOWN BY DOTTED LINES.
: BOTTOM CONDITIONS ARE INDICATED.
CARTOUCHE : NONE (1)
BORDER : GEOGRAPHICALLY FUNCTIONAL (8)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : GREENWICH (1)
SEE ALSO MAP #s : 368E5 (ST. 1), 371E5 (ANOTHER STATE), 379E5 (ANOTHER STATE).
BEST INFO SOURCE : PHILLIPS AND GUTHORN ARE BEST.
DESCRIPTION : THIS CHART COVERS THE CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM ITS MOUTH TO JUST NORTH OF BALTIMORE, OMITTING THE MOST NORTHERN PART OF THE BAY. THERE ARE EXTENSIVE SOUNDINGS, BOTTOM CONDITIONS, SHOALS, LIGHTS AND ROUTE INFORMATION SHOWN. NO TOPOGRAPHICAL DETAILS ARE INCLUDED. LIGHTS ARE SHOWN IN YELLOW AND RED. THE DATA ON THE CHART IN NO WAY IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE U.S. COAST SURVEY, BUT SINCE A DETAILED TRIANGULATION STUDY WITH SOUNDINGS AND BOTTOM DATA HAS BEEN LARGELY COMPLETED BY THE TIME THIS CHART APPEARED, IT IS LIKELY THAT THE GOVERNMENT DATA WAS USED IN ITS PREPARATION. HOWEVER, GEORGE ELDRIDGE WAS A FORMER MASTER OF A FISHING VESSEL ON CAPE COD AND A LOCAL PILOT, SO HE MAY HAVE HAD SOME ADDITIONAL PRIVATE SOURCES OF INFORMATION.

ELDRIDGE'S FIRST CHART, ACCORDING TO GUTHORN, WAS PUBLISHED IN DECEMBER, 1851 WHILE HE WAS CONVALESCING AT HOME FROM AN INJURY. BEGINNING IN 1865, HIS CHARTS WERE PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL THAXTER & SON OF BOSTON AND WERE ALL LITHOGRAPHED. HIS WORKS ARE EASY TO READ AND QUITE LEGIBLE.

DATA IS PRIMARILY FROM OBSERVATION OF THE COPY OF THE 1871 STATE OF THE MAP IN THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION AND FROM GUTHORN.

EDITION & STATE INFO : NO THOROUGH SEARCH HAS BEEN MADE TO IDENTIFY ALL THE STATES OF THIS CHART. HOWEVER, THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS PHOTOCOPIES OF THREE STATES IN BLACK AND WHITE FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AND A LINEN BACKED COPY OF THE 1871 STATE.

1ST STATE - (1868) - THIS CHART APPEARS TO BE THE FIRST STATE BECAUSE OF THE MANUSCRIPT DATA ON WHEN IT WAS DEPOSITED AND THE VOLUME AND PAGE NUMBER WHERE IT WAS RECORDED, WRITTEN TO THE RIGHT OF THE TITLE IN INK. IN ADDITION, THE TWO LATER ISSUES KNOWN TO WRITER BOTH RETAIN THE 1868 DATE IN THE "ENTERED ACCORDING TO..." STATEMENT IN THE BOTTOM LEFT. SEE CHART # 368E5.

ANOTHER STATE - (1871) - THE DATE IN THE TITLE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO 1871. SOME OF THE NAVIGATIONAL INFORMATION HAS BEEN UPDATED. SEE MAP # 371E5.

ANOTHER STATE - (1878) - THE DATE IN THE TITLE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO 1878. NUMEROUS CHANGES IN NAVIGATIONAL AID INFORMATION, SUCH AS NEW FOG BELLS AND THE INTERVALS AT WHICH THEY ARE STRUCK, AND ADDITIONAL FLASHING LIGHT DATA ARE MADE OR ADDED. ROUTE LINES AND DIRECTION AND DISTANCE INFORMATION ON THOSE LINES FOR SOME OF THE RIVERS IS ADDED TO THE MAIN ROUTE LINES FOR THE BAY. THIS IS THE CHART DCESCRIBED HEREIN.

ANOTHER STATE - (1879) - THE DATE IN THE TITLE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO 1879. A FEW ADDITIONAL CHANGES IN NAVIGATIONAL AID INFORMATION HAVE BEEN MADE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE EXPLANATION "STRUCK AT INTERVALS OF TWELVE SECONDS" IS ADDED AT THE FOG BELL NEAR LOWER CEDAR PT. ON THE POTOMAC RIVER. SEE CHART # 379E5.

DATA IS FROM OBSERVATION OF THE 1871 COPY AND THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PHOTOCOPIES IN THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS A GOOD COPY OF THE 1871 STATE ON HEAVY PAPER BACKED WITH LINEN, WHICH IS PARTIALLY DISCOLORED. IT HAS AN ACQ. # OF EJL012-HII AND A MDHR # OF MSA SC1399-680. THE COLLECTION HAS A BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOCOPY OF THE ORIGINAL LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPY OF THE 1868 FIRST STATE OF THIS CHART THAT WAS DEPOSITED, ACCORDING TO A PENNED NOTE TO THE RIGHT OF THE TITLE, ON JUNE 2, 1868 AND RECORDED IN VOL. 43, PAGE 624, NO. 506. IT HAS A MDHR # OF MSA SC1399- 417(REPRO). THE COLLECTION ALSO HAS 80% BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOCOPIES OF THE 1878 AND 1879 STATES OF THE CHART. THEIR MDHR #S ARE MSA SC1399-311 AND 312, RESPECTIVELY.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : PHILLIPS, PHILIP LEE, A LIST OF MAPS OF AMERICA IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, NEW YORK: BURT FRANKLIN, AN UNDATED REPRINT OF A 1901 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PUBLICATION, 228; GUTHORN, PETER, "AMERICAN 19TH CENTURY NEW ENGLAND CHARTS AND THEIR MAKERS PART I", THE MAP COLLECTOR MAGAZINE, TRING, HERTFORDSHIRE: MAP COLLECTOR PUBLICATIONS, LTD, JUNE, 1983, ISSUE NO. 23, 14-21.

February 20, 1993


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