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Description

Scarce nautical chart of Jamaica, the Cayman Islands (Caimanes Chicos), and part of Cuba. Extremely detailed, including annotations near the Caymans and several other notes, with some manuscript annotations.

Spanish Sea Charts of this region in the mid-19th Century are quite scarce on the market.

Condition Description
Minor soiling.
Direccion Hidrografica de Madrid Biography

The Dirección de Hidrografía, or the Directorate of Hydrographic Works, was established in 1797. Its roots were in the Casa de Contratación, founded in 1503 in Sevilla, which housed all the charts of the Spanish Empire and oversaw the creation and maintenance of the padrón real, the official master chart. The Casa, now in Cadiz, was shuttered in 1790, but Spain still needed a hydrographic body. In response, the Dirección was created in 1797. One of its first projects was the publication of charts from the Malaspina Expedition (1789-1794). The Dirección oversaw not only publication, but also surveying. The Dirección was abolished in the early twentieth century, when their work was distributed to other organizations.