Hand-colored chart of Plymouth England. 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, and shoal markings. There is a highly decorated title cartouche. Two cherubs surround the cartouche with the map scale in the lower right corner.
