uncolored chart, depicting an area near Harwich, dedicated to Samuell Pepys. Pepys represented Harwich in Parliament in 1679, and again from 1685-1689. The chart is an illustration from the publication, Great Britain's Coasting Pilot. The book was the first systematic survey of British coastal waters, and it continues to be a landmark publication in British hydrography.
In 1681, Samuel Pepys assigned Captain Greenville Collins to undertake the survey with measuring chain, a compass and a lead-line. It took Collins eight years to complete and was published to great acclaim in 1693. Collins was the hydrographer of King Charles II of England.
Designed as a navigational tool, the chart includes rhumb lines, depth, sand banks, and shoal markings. There is a highly decorated dedication cartouche in the upper right side.
