Title: The first map of British Hong Kong "The Canton River & Adjacent Coast"—July 1841 Description: The Canton River, and Adjacent Coast'. We believe this to be the first map of Hong Kong issued after the British formally took possession of the island on 26 January 1841. It appeared in the July 1841 issue of the Nautical Magazine, published just one month after news of the acquisition reached the India Board in London (3 June 1841), conveyed in a naval dispatch from H.M.S. Wellesley, authored by Sir James John Gordon Bremer and dated 10 March 1841. Its appearance therefore follows closely upon the earliest confirmed metropolitan notification of the event. The map is unrecorded in Empson’s Mapping of Hong Kong and in Charting the Pearl River Delta (Hong Kong Maritime Museum). Sir Edward Belcher’s first detailed Admiralty survey of Hong Kong, although begun in 1841, was not published until 1843. The first issue of Wyld’s Chart of the Canton River (21 September 1840) clearly predates the occupation. A later state of Wyld’s chart, held by the University of Wisconsin–Madison bears no printed date; "1841?" has been added in pencil. However, its content demonstrates a materially later issue; notably, the settlement of Aberdeen Bay is marked. Aberdeen is generally understood to have been named in 1845 after George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Foreign Secretary (1841–46). His decisive intervention to conclude the First Opium War and definitively secure Hong Kong for Britain did not occur until 1842, making an 1841 issue date for that state improbable. by The Nautical Magazine. Published July 1841. Antique engraved map. Size 22 x 26 cm | 8.5 x 10.0 inches. Condition: Good; suitable for framing. Please check the scan for any blemishes prior to making your purchase. Please contact us if you would like to arrange to view this map. This is a folding map. There is nothing printed on the reverse side, which is plain. Tags: 1841, British, Canton, China, China | Cathay, Hong Kong, Map, Nautical charts, The Nautical Magazine
Reserve: $3,240.00
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