All collections
The chart collection online
Over 1500 charts and maps are available on our Collections Online website. Visitors to the site can zoom in to explore the finest details. See the charts and maps in Collections Online.
Charts and maps
The National Maritime Museum collections contain more than 100,000 sea charts and maps dating from the medieval period to the present day. They document the results of exploration and discovery and show how techniques of navigation and surveying developed. Many were owned by naval officers and politicians and were used to plan and record the events which have become maritime history.
The collections are not exclusively British and although they concentrate on charting the seas and coastlines, land maps are also included. Together they illustrate the work of the leading hydrographers and cartographers throughout the history of charting and mapmaking.
Hydrography: introduction
Charts represent the world's water-covered regions as aids to navigation. They are generally drawn on Gerard Mercator's projection (first introduced in 1569), which transforms the curved surface of the earth on to a flat plane.
The earliest portulan charts were prepared on vellum (sheep or goatskin). These concentrated on the Mediterranean. Later Italian, Spanish and Portuguese charts included new information resulting from the voyages of exploration of the late-15th and early-16th centuries.
Printed charts replaced portulan charts in the 17th century. The Dutch dominated the hydrography market and published many fine sea atlases. France and Britain next became major forces in chartmaking. Both established naval hydrographic offices, France in 1720 and Britain in 1795.
The British contribution to hydrography was highlighted by the voyages of discovery made by Captain James Cook between 1768 and 1780. Britain led the charting industry during the 19th century.
National Maritime Museum chart and map collections
- Portulan chart and early manuscripts atlas collection
Items from the 14th–18th centuries
- Library atlas collection
Over 1000 printed atlases from the 15th century onwards
- General chart collection
Unbound charts, worldwide coverage, all dates
- Individual and special chart collections
These belonged to surveyors (e.g. de Gomme and Lord Stokes), naval officers (e.g. Duff, Duckworth and Lockyer), companies (e.g. Green of Blackwall), politicians (e.g. William Wyndham Grenville) and collectors (e.g. Henry Newton stevens collection of Des Barres' Atlantic Neptune atlas sheets of North America
- Post-1900 British Admiralty charts
The Museum receives a copy of every new Hydrographic Office chart
- Pilot books and sailing directions
From the 15th century to the present day
Research opportunities
The collections offer significant opportunities for research into both more traditional areas such as exploration and discovery, naval operations, navigation and mercantile travel as well as emerging areas including cultural geography, post colonial studies and marine environmental management.
To help with research the Museum subscribes to the following journals and newsletters related to maps and charts:
- Imago Mundi
- IMCoS Journal
Charts and maps related external websites
- Map history/History of cartography
- United Kingdom Hydrographic Office
- British Library
- Imperial War Museum
- Charting Neptune's Realm at the University of South Maine
Further reading
L. Bagrow and R. A. Skelton, History of Cartography (London: C.A. Watts, 1985 2nd ed)
A. C. F. David, The Charts and Coastal Views of Captain Cook's Voyages, 3 vols (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1988–97)
L. S. Dawson, Memoirs of Hydrography (London: Cornmarket Press, 1969 reprint ed)
A. Day, The Admiralty Hydrographic Service: 1795–1919 (London: HMSO, 1967)
A. Day, The Royal Naval Surveying Service: 1920–1960 (Taunton: Ministry of Defence, 1972)
D. Howse and M. Sanderson, The Sea Chart (Newton Abbott: David and Charles, 1973)
R. Putnam, Early Sea Charts (New York: Abbeville Press, 1983)
A. H. W. Robinson, Marine Cartography in Britain (Leicester University Press, 1962)
R. D. Shirley, The Mapping of the World: Early Printed World Maps, 1472–1700 (London: Holland Press, 1993)
B. Thynne, 'Mapping the Oceans - Sea Charts and Atlases', The Old Royal Observatory, Greenwich – Guide to collection (National Maritime Museum and Merrell Holberton, 1998 pp. 64–84)
R. V. Tooley, Tooley's Directory of Mapmakers (Tring: Map Collector Publications, 1999)
P. Whitfield, The Charting of the Oceans: Ten Centuries of Maritime Maps (British Library, 1996)
Related NMM resources
Collections online is a website that provides access to over 5500 records and images from the Museum's collections including 480 charts and maps. Other objects include: ceramics, coins and commemorative medals, edged weapons, firearms, globes, jewellery, quadrants and sundials. Visit the Collections Online website
Port is an online catalogue developed to promote a more interactive approach to the use and interpretation of maritime information. Resources contained on Port include listings of organizations and key stakeholders, an inventory of courses and conferences, key sites and other relevant material, which may be browsed by subject category or historical period. A number of the subject categories are highly appropriate for the charts and maps collection, including navigation, recreation and sport, travel and exploration and underwater archaeology. Visit the Port website
The marine environment collection
The hydrography section is closely linked to the Museum's developing marine environment collection. This collection has four inter-linked themes
- The physical ocean
- Society and the sea
- The threatened sea
- Science and the sea
These form the key components of humankind's contemporary relationship with the oceans and highlight the need for an integrated understanding of this important and fascinating subject. Many of the maps and charts are integral to aspects of these key themes. For example, the British Admiralty charts are valuable tools for underwater navigation and exploration, in the mapping and interpretation of recent environmental change and for international relations and boundary studies.
Oceanographic related publications
The Museum holds an extensive collection of publications related to oceanography. These are currently held in store at the main Museum site and may be seen in the Caird Library. These texts may be used in conjunction with a number of the charts and maps mentioned above, especially in relation to the reconstruction and prediction of coastal and ocean environmental changes.
Access to the collections
Researchers are welcome to study items but an appointment must be made in advance. Please contact the E-Library for further information, tel: +44 (0)20 8312 6516.
Buy a print
You can purchase prints of some of the maps and charts held in the Museum collections from the Picture Library. Details on how to order a print and a list of prices are available on the Picture Library web pages.
Please note that this is for private use only and images must not be reproduced. Details on how obtain an image for reproduction is available on our commercial users page.