Atlantic Neptune

The Atlantic Neptune is a monumental four volume atlas which was the most important collection of maps, charts and views of North America published in the eighteenth century.[1] It was created by Colonel Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres.

Spry Harbour to Flemming River
A survey of Boston Harbor, first published in 1775

Des Barres made many maps of the Atlantic, mapping the coast of North America from Newfoundland to New York. His survey of the coast of Nova Scotia took approximately ten years due its length and intricacy. Des Barres was exasperated with the work stating "There is scarcely any known shore so much intersected with Bays, Harbours, and Creeks as this is ... and the Offing of it is so full of Islands, Rocks, and Shoals as are almost innumerable."[2] The survey work was carried out in the summer and in the winter he would retire to his estate, Castle Frederick, in Falmouth, Nova Scotia to complete his charts and drawings. In 1774 under direction for the British Admiralty, Des Barres compiled and edited his and many others' charts and maps of eastern North America. The completed work Atlantic Neptune was published in 1777, having cost the Admiralty an estimated £100,000.[3]

See also

References
  1. The Atlantic Neptune Lloyd A. Brown The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 67, No. 4 (Oct., 1943), pp. 377-381 Published by: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
  2. Jerry Lockett. Captain James Cook in Atlantic Canada. The adventurer & Map Maker's Formative Years. Formac Publishing Company Limited, Halifax, NS. 2011.p. 112. p. 115.
  3. Jerry Lockett. Captain James Cook in Atlantic Canada. The adventurer & Map Maker's Formative Years. Formac Publishing Company Limited, Halifax, NS. 2011.p. 112. p. 187.

Further reading
  • Stephen J. Hornsby, Surveyors of Empire: Samuel Holland, J.F.W. Des Barres, and the Making of The Atlantic Neptune. McGill-Queen's University Press. 2011.
  • Robert J, Morgan, "DesBarres the Founder" The Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, Volume 5, Number 2, 1985
  • Stephen B. MacPhee, "Des Barres and His Contemporary Mapmakers" The Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, Volume 5, Number 2, 1985
  • Douglas B. Foster, "Des Barres the Town Planner" The Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, Volume 5, Number 2, 1985
  • Leventhal Map Center (2013), "Charting an Empire: The Atlantic Neptune", Exhibitions, USA: Boston Public Library, archived from the original on 2014-07-23
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