Waghenaer’s distinctive sea chart of the Bristol Channel

The first printed sea chart of the Bristol Channel, first published in 1588 and this example coming from a Latin edition of 1591, with the plate number (XIX) added lower left. It shows the south coast from Padstow east to Aust, marking Barnstable, Ilfracombe, Minehead and, of course, Bristol. The Welsh coast shows from Milford Haven and Pembroke east to Chepstow, with Tenby, Swansea, Cardiff and Newport. It was engraved by the renowned engraver Johannes van Doetichum for Waghenaer's sea-atlas, the 'Spieghel der Zeevaerdt'. It has all the decorative details that make the series so attractive: strapwork cartouches for the title and scale, galleons and sea-monsters. Koeman (IV, p.469) writes: 'Thanks to the unparalleled skill of the engravers, Baptist and Johannes van Doetichum, the original ms. charts by Waghenaer were transformed into the most beautiful maps of the period.'