MEXICAN PORT OF ZIHUATANEJO 1750ca GEORGE ANSON UNUSUAL ANTIQUE SEA CHART

Plan du Havre de Chequetan ou Seguataneo Situe par la Latitude de 17d. 36m. du Nord.

Description: Striking and highly detailed fine unusual copper engraved sea chart or nautical map of Mexican port of Zihuatanejo, is a city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. The map shows  the port,  depth soundings and nautical references. This area was originally named Cihuatlan in Aztec, which means "Place of Women", referring to the matriarchal society that dominated the region in pre-Columbian times.
 
Anson was given command of the 60-gun third-rate HMS Centurion in the West Africa Squadron in 1737 and, having been promoted to commodore with his broad pennant in HMS Centurion, he took command of a squadron sent to attack Spanish possessions in South America at the outset of the War of Jenkins’ Ear. In 1740. Those orders were ‘to take, burn, sink or otherwise destroy the ships and vessels belonging to the Crown of Spain‘. The ships involved were the Centurion, Gloucester, Severn, Pearl, Wager, Tryal and two store ships the Anna and Industry. Anson had great difficulty in manning the fleet and the crew was supplemented with 500 invalids, out-patients from Chelsea Hospital who all died during the voyage.
 
After setting off later than planned, Anson’s squadron encountered successive disasters. Two of his vessels, the fifth-rate HMS Pearl and the fourth-rate HMS Severn, failed to round Cape Horn and returned home. Meanwhile, the sixth-rate HMS Wager was wrecked off the coast of Chile, where the crew subsequently mutinied. The lateness of the season forced him to round the Horn in very stormy weather, and the navigating instruments of the time did not allow for exact observations. Anson reached the Juan Fernández Islands in June 1741 with only three of his six ships remaining: HMS Centurion, the fourth-rate HMS Gloucester, and the sloop HMS Tryall. The strength of his crews had fallen from 961 to 335 due to scurvy. In November 1741, he was able to sack the small port city of Paita in Peru in the absence of any effective Spanish force on the coast. However, the steady decrease of his crews by scurvy and the worn-out state of his remaining consorts compelled him to collect all the remaining survivors in Centurion. Anson then rested at the island of Tinian before making his way to Macao in November 1742.
 
After facing considerable difficulties with the Chinese, Anson sailed again with his one remaining vessel to search for one of the Manila galleons that conducted trade between Mexico and the Chinese merchants in the Philippines. He captured the Nuestra Señora de Covadonga, which he encountered off Cape Espiritu Santo on 20 June 1743. The ship had 1,313,843 pieces of eight on board, and the charts captured with the ship added many islands (and phantom islands) to the British knowledge of the Pacific, including the Anson Archipelago.
 
Anson took his prize back to Macao, sold her cargo to the Chinese, kept the specie, and sailed for England via the Cape of Good Hope. Despite passing by a French fleet patrolling the Channel through a thick fog, he reached England on 15 June 1744. The prize money earned from the capture of the galleon made Anson a rich man for life and bought him considerable political influence. However, he initially refused promotion to Rear-Admiral of the Blue out of anger that the admiralty refused to sanction a captain’s commission he had given one of his officers.

Date: 1750ca ( undated )

Dimension: Paper size approx.: cm 40,6 x 22,5

Condition: Very strong and dark impression on good paper. Paper with chains and wiremarks. Map uncolored.  Left lateral margin partially missing to the lower side.  Wide margins. Small foxing and browning. Paper browned. Map folded. Conditions are as you can see in the images.

Mapmakers: Baron George Anson (23 April 1697 - 6 June 1762) was a British commodore and a wealthy noble. Following Anson's aristocratic upbringing on the family estate of Shugborough in Sataffordshire, he joined the British Navy. Anson went through a series of rapid promotions and, in 1737, was given command of a fleet of six ships charged with the mission of attacking Spanish possessions in South America. This mission was ill-equipped and unprepared for the trials ahead. Storms and navigational errors took a heavy toll on the expedition. By the time Anson reached the island of Juan Fernandez his fleet had been diminished to only three ships and his crew reduced to roughly 1/3 of its original strength. Nonetheless, Anson's persistence eventually led to the capture of an immensely rich price, the Spanish treasure galleon Nuestra Senora de Covadonga. The galleon, taken off of Cape Espiritu Santo in 1743 was loaded with silver bullion and, more importantly, charts and maps detailing the routes between Mexico and the Far East used by the Spanish for over 200 years. Knowledge of this route enabled the British navy to disrupt Spanish trade in the Pacific and thus weaken its stranglehold on the Americas. Upon his return to England Anson was hailed as a national hero and made immensely wealthy by his share of the Nuestra's treasure. Anson retired from the Navy for a career in politics and was a Member of Parliament from 1744 to 1747. Anson subsequently continued his naval career with distinction as an administrator, becoming First Lord of the Admiralty (1757-1762). Seven British warships have borne the name HMS Anson in his honor. Anson County, North Carolina, and Ansonborough in Charleston, South Carolina, are also named in Anson's honor.