Item number: CSMT352
Set of Three Genuine Antique Charts
1813
Maker: Steel
Rare set of three antique nautical charts of the East Coast of the United States from Boston to Cape Hatteras North Carolina, published in 1813 by Steel & Co. (Penelope Steel). Shows soundings, shoals, harbors, rhumb lines, etc. These charts were "Approved and Selected by the Chart Committee of the Admiralty for the use of the Officers in the Royal Navy." Includes Boston Harbor, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket in Massachusetts; Narragansett in Rhode Island; Long Island Sound between Connecticut and Long Island, New York City and harbor with Manhattan Island; Barnegat Bay on the New Jersey coast; Delaware Bay and River to Philadelphia; Chesapeake Bay between Virginia and Maryland and the many rivers leading to Baltimore, Washington DC, Fredericksburg, etc.; Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound, and part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The Steel company was started by David Steel senior. The company was taken on by David Steel junior when his father died in 1799. When David Steel Junior died in 1803 at the age of 39, his wife Penelope continued the business. She remarried in 1806, with her new husband George Mason also becoming her business partner. In 1814 she partnered with Stanley Goddard and by 1819 the company was bankrupt and all of their materials were sold to J.W. Norie & Company. Steel charts are extremely rare, with very few examples appearing on the market. These charts are in very good condition. A previous owner did some light restoration including closing tears and reinforcing the center folds. The charts exhibit some signs of age with minor wear and paper loss at edges in the margins, some mild stains, slight toning along the center fold. These charts could be joined to create one long chart or framed separately. Each chart measures approx. 36.5 x 24.5 inches to the border lines (neatline). The border is not continuous on each chart, rather it is done so that it would be continuous if the charts were joined.
Set of Three Genuine Antique Charts from 1813
Item Number: CSMT352