This chart delineates Anson's world circumnavigation, one of the last great buccaneering voyages. In 1740 Anson set sail in command of a squadron sent to attack Spanish possessions and interests in South America. The ill-equipped expedition failed to carry out its original ambitious mission and the squadron nearly perished. In June 1741 Anson collected the remaining survivors on his flagship, the Centurion, and set sail in search of one of the richly laden galleons that conducted the trade between Mexico and the Philippines. The indomitable perseverance he had shown during one of the most arduous voyages in the history of sea adventure gained him the reward of an immensely rich prize, the Nuestra Señora de Covadonga, which he encountered off Cap de Espiritu Santo on June 20, 1743. Details in the chart are limited to the immediate region affected by the voyage leaving continental interiors blank save for large rivers, lakes, and seas and important cities. California is depicted as an island, a very late depiction of this cartographic error. Drawn and engraved by Richard William Seale.

References: Shirley (BL Atlases) G.ANS-1c #1a.

Condition: B+

Issued folding, now flat, on watermarked paper with light offsetting and minor soiling. The sheet has been remargined with period correct paper at bottom and at right.