Map of Australia, Compiled from the Nautical Surveys, Made by Order of the Admiralty, and other Authentic Documents by James Wyld Geographernto…

Colouring: Uncoloured

Condition: Good. Thin paper

Confirmed: No

Description: James Wyld Jr. and his father James Wyld Sr., were prominent London map publishers, both serving as Royal Geographers during their careers. The Wyld publishing house operated from around 1837 to 1893 at Charing Cross and West Strand, producing a variety of maps, as well as table and floor globes. Following his fathers death in 1836, James Wyld Jr. joined the family business republishing his fathers maps and guiding the firm toward new ventures, including becoming agents for the Ordnance Survey. Under his leadership, the company grew to become one of Britains leading map publishers.nAccording to R.V. Tooley, the earliest edition of this map of Australia was published in 1837, bu tmuch of the continents inland areas remained unsurveyed and unsettled by Europeans as late as 1855, when this version of the map was published.nSettlement at that time was concentrated in two primary regions: the eighteen counties of New South Wales (which then included all of Queensland), centred around Sydney, and the twenty-six counties of Western Australia, centred around Perth and still referred to as New Holland. Van Diemens Land (modern Tasmania) is depicted in an inset that highlights western development and lists eleven counties.nThe map highlights key geographical features, including county divisions across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and New Holland, as well as the locations of gold deposits and ocean currents. Notably, Victoria is named, but Queensland is not yet identified, and lakes in South Australia are absent. It also incorporates the latest discoveries by key explorers, particularly in Victoria and the far southern part of New South Wales and Charles Stuarts 1844-1845 expedition into central Australia to find a fabled inland sea. On September 8, 1845, what is now the modern town of Milparinka, in the Corner Country, near the borders of South Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland. This location is marked on the map as the farthest point of his journey.

First published: Separate Publication. London: James Wyld Jnr, 1833

Mapmaker: Wyld, James Jnr. (1812-1887)

Notes: Purchase details

Other states: First (1837)

Primary Category: Southern Continent

References: Tooley, R.V. Printed maps of Australia, 1385

Technique: Steel Engraving

This state: undated (1855)