Tuesday June 20, 2017 9am - 5pm (8 Hours)
Gallery / Exhibit Community Museum
admuseum@ns.sympatico.ca
902-245-6322
This exhibit represents a selective chronicle of the marine surveys in and around our Bay from the current historical record. It contains both original and reproduction charts dating from the early 1500’s and extending through more than 500 years of coastal navigation and chart production.
History has left us with an interesting account of one of the most surveyed coastlines during the years of European exploration along the North American coasts. These specialized documents give us a progression of cartographic knowledge related to the Bay of Fundy.
We begin with some of the earliest recorded voyages and general surveys of the area and step through the evolution of accuracy and depiction. European developments in navigational accuracy and trans-ocean sailing would not become common until the 1600’s, although reconnaissance voyages were frequent in the first half of the 1500’s.
The methods and instrumentation of positioning were crude in these times as were the charts drawn from sketches or verbal accounts. Developed in China c.206 BCE and adapted for navigational use in the 11th Century, the magnetic compass became an invaluable tool to the ancient mariner. In 2017 it is not the primary navigational device for mariners, but still used in a backup role on board many vessels.
Renaissance Europe seems a logical time to begin, during a period that drove wealthy nations and merchants to the coasts along the Western side of the Atlantic Ocean, ultimately looking for passage to Asia. We see a direct correlation between advances in positioning technology and the dissemination of information through the near-instantly popular use of the printing press. Maps and charts began appearing in numbers, compiled from precious manuscripts and captains’ logbooks interpreted by cartographers and transformed into lines, names and symbols that would characterize coastlines, bays, headlands and shoals.
David Raymond, Guest Curator
admuseum@ns.sympatico.ca
902-245-6322
This exhibit represents a selective chronicle of the marine surveys in and around our Bay from the current historical record. It contains both original and reproduction charts dating from the early 1500’s and extending through more than 500 years of coastal navigation and chart production.
History has left us with an interesting account of one of the most surveyed coastlines during the years of European exploration along the North American coasts. These specialized documents give us a progression of cartographic knowledge related to the Bay of Fundy.
We begin with some of the earliest recorded voyages and general surveys of the area and step through the evolution of accuracy and depiction. European developments in navigational accuracy and trans-ocean sailing would not become common until the 1600’s, although reconnaissance voyages were frequent in the first half of the 1500’s.
The methods and instrumentation of positioning were crude in these times as were the charts drawn from sketches or verbal accounts. Developed in China c.206 BCE and adapted for navigational use in the 11th Century, the magnetic compass became an invaluable tool to the ancient mariner. In 2017 it is not the primary navigational device for mariners, but still used in a backup role on board many vessels.
Renaissance Europe seems a logical time to begin, during a period that drove wealthy nations and merchants to the coasts along the Western side of the Atlantic Ocean, ultimately looking for passage to Asia. We see a direct correlation between advances in positioning technology and the dissemination of information through the near-instantly popular use of the printing press. Maps and charts began appearing in numbers, compiled from precious manuscripts and captains’ logbooks interpreted by cartographers and transformed into lines, names and symbols that would characterize coastlines, bays, headlands and shoals.
David Raymond, Guest Curator
Pricing & Tickets
Pricing: Donation
