By: Margaret Sankey   The initiative of Rupert Gerritsen, Chairman of the Australia on the Map division of the Australasian Hydrographic Society, in organising this symposium to celebrate the bicentenary of the publication of Louis Freycinet’s 1811 map of New Holland underscores the too often unrecognized contribution made by the French to the early exploration of[…]

Jean Fornasiero and John West-Sooby   Every picture tells a story, and this is no less true of maps and charts than it is of other types of images. As pictorial representations, maps and charts are in fact particularly strong sources of narrative since their common functions include reproducing the itinerary of a journey or illustrating[…]

olf Mayer Introduction The second half of the eighteens century and the early decades of the nineteenth saw an heightened interest by European governments, particularly those of France and Great Britain, in the wider Pacific region, including Australia. More than a dozen expeditions, commanded by outstanding navigators that included James Cook, Antoine de Bruni d’Entrecasteaux,[…]

Gregory C. Eccleston Monsieur l’ambassadeur de France. Mesdames, mesdemoiselles, messieurs… Bonjour !!!!!! Si nous sommes reunis aujourd’hui dans cette salle, ce n’est pas pour célèbrer l’union de deux êtres, mais belle est bien pour célèbrer le bicentenaire de la première publication de la carte de l’Australie. Je m’appelle Greg ECCLESTON. This is a brief story[…]

The Freycinets’ Australian connections   Henry de Saulses de Freycinet When the French are spoken of, in or around Australia, the first name that comes to mind is “La Pérouse” or “d’Entrecasteaux”. This shows that there is a large gap in knowledge of French expeditions and involvement in the Australian history, in my view. Indeed[…]

Peter Reynders and Rupert Gerritsen   The Freycinet map of Nouvelle Hollande is generally recognised as the first full map of Australia to be published. But was it the first and was it published in 1811 making this year, 2011, the bicentenary of its publication. In historical context the map is the culmination of a[…]

Dr Martin Woods, Curator of Maps, National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia is fortunate to have an extensive collection of printed and manuscript material, cartography, correspondence, drawings and other works produced as a result or in the course of many of the French Asia-Pacific voyages of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth[…]