Important and rare early chart of Mauritius issued by Mount and Page in the mid 18th century.

This map was originally published by John Thornton and is usually dated to between 1702-5 as part of his “English Pilot …the Third Book…Oriental Navigation”, the first sea atlas focused on the East Indies. It is often cited as the first accurate printed map of the island. Although Joan Blaeu did publish a small map entitled “I. Mauritius” in 1662, the shape of the island does not relate in any way to reality despite the fact that the Dutch had attempted to establish settlements there since 1598.

Little is known of the source for the geography of this map but an inset on the upper right refers to an incident where the British East Indiaman “Falcon” ran aground at the Shoals of St. Brandon also known as the Carajos Cargados Shoals approximately 250 miles away from Mauritius. It was commanded by Captain Edward Ledger. The Falcon made seven voyages between 1670 and 1683 and thus it is possible that over that period she accumulated an archive of charts of the Indian Ocean. These could have been made available to Thornton for purchase.

The map focuses specifically on coastal detail with little shown in the interior. Indeed, much of the interior is taken by an inset entitled “N.W. Harbour” marked where Port Louis is now situated. The map is drawn showing north to the right. There are few institutional records for this map but the New York Public Library has an example with Samuel Thornton’s imprint on the cartouche. Samuel was John Thornton’s son and was active until c.1715.

This example has had Thornton’s name removed from the cartouche, identifying it as part of William Mount and Thomas Page’s “English Pilot”, the definitive 18th century English sea atlas. The firm of Mount and Page was established in the late 17th century and maintained control of the business through several generations in the 18th century. They purchased the Thornton collection of copper plates and incorporated into their work.

This map was most likely published c. 1740. Coloured. [IC2910]