Chart of the Coast of America from Cape Hatteras to Cape Roman from the Actual Surveys of D. Dunbibin Esqr.

This chart of the North Carolina coast by the little known North Carolinian landowner and merchant, Daniel Dunbibin, was published in The American Pilot by William Norman in 1791. It is the earliest surviving sea chart of the Carolinas published in America. According to the Boston Gazette of September 14, 1761, Dunbibin first published his work in 1761, but none of his original work is known to have survived. Norman's Pilot is the only publication where Dunbibin's work survives.

Dunbibin petitioned the North Carolina Assembly on May 19, 1757 for support for his coastal survey as the expenses had exceeded the amount raised by subscription. He died before the map was completed, and his widow completed the petition to the Assembly. The original chart was advertised in the Boston Gazette of September 14, 1761: "The Navigation on the Coast of North and South Carolina being very dangerous on account of the many Bars, Shoals, Sandbanks, Rocks, etc. The late Daniel Dunbibin, Esq: of North Carolina, has, at very great Expense and Labour, draughted the Sea Coast of both the Provinces in a large whole Sheet Chart of 33 Inches by 23; together with all the Rivers, Bays, Inlets, Islands, Brooks, Bars, Shoals, Rocks, Soundings, Currents, &c. with necessary Directions to render the Navigation both easy and safe, and are much esteemed by the most expert Pilots: - A few of the Draughts may be had of the Subscriber if apply'd for directly. Edmund Quincy, jun. Broker."

The chart shows a much greater area than the title implies, extending from Charleston, S.C. to north of Cape Hatteras. The rhumb lines branch out from Cape Fear and from an implicit compass rose near the lower edge of the chart. Soundings are clustered around the numerous inlets, and a number of sandbars and shoals are shown. The typography is typical of the purported date of engraving: ca. 1760. Underneath the title is a simple depiction of "A Scale of 20 English Leagues." Three sailing vessels float along the bays, and in the top right are two depictions of whales.

For the first edition of his The American Pilot of 1791, it is believed that John Norman either re-engraved the Dunbibin plate or copied it from a then surviving example of the chart, as the oval title inset makes it clear that Dunbibin's chart is the source of the information for this chart. New editions of the Pilot appeared in 1792 and 1794, and after John Norman's death, his son, William, brought out editions in 1794, 1798, 1801, and 1803. Despite the seemingly large number of editions, The American Pilot is one of the rarest of all American atlases, and one of the very few published during the eighteenth century. Wheat and Brun (pps. 198-199) locate just ten complete copies for the first five editions: 1791 (Huntington, Harvard); 1792 (LC, Clements); 1794(1) (LC, JCB, Boston Public); 1794 (2) (Yale); 1798 (LC, Boston Public).

References: Wheat, James Clements, and Christian Brun. Maps and Charts Published in America Before 1800: A Bibliography. (London: Holland Press, 1978): 575, 589.; Guthorn, Peter J. United States Coastal Charts, 1783-1861. (Exton, Pa: Schiffer Pub, 1984): 7-8, 95.; Cumming, William Patterson, and Louis De Vorsey. The Southeast in Early Maps. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998): 57.