Brault, Louis-Deìsireì-Leìon (1839 - 1885)

DÉPÔT DES CARTES ET PLANS DE LA MARINE (FRENCH NAVY)

1885

Septembre. Océan Atlantique Nord / Cartes Mensuelles de la Direction des Vents

Lemercier & Cie. / Dépôt de la Marine

Paris

Atlas Map

55

72

Date estimated.

Atlantic

Data Visualization

Weather

Oceans; Seas

Transportation

Septembre. Océan Atlantique Nord / Cartes Mensuelles de la Direction des Vents

15646.012

12

Brault, Louis-Deìsireì-Leìon (1839 - 1885)

DÉPÔT DES CARTES ET PLANS DE LA MARINE (FRENCH NAVY)

1885

Océan Atlantique Nord / Cartes Mensuelles de la Direction des Vents.

[Noting all 14 of the charts within the present atlas, but not necessarily issued together:] FRANCE. SERVICE HYDROGRAPHIQUE DE LA MARINE, Annales hydrographiques (1951), p. 99; [re: the seasonal overview / isometric overview charts only:] Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Cartes et plans, GE C-600; Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino: PT/AHU/CARTI/093/02425; FRANCE. SERVICE HYDROGRAPHIQUE ET OCÉANOGRAPHIQUE DE LA MARINE, Catalogue chronologique des cartes, plans, vues de côtes, mémoires, instructions nautiques, etc. qui composent l'hydrographie française (1886), p. 172; Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, vol. 8 (1886), p. 288; Dr. A. Petermann's Mitteilungen aus Justus Perthes' Geographischer Anstalt, 32. Band (1886), p. 224; Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, vol. 8 (1886), p. 288; B. SCHWALBE (ed.), Die Fortschritte der Physik der Erde im Jahre 1885, p. 358; [re: the 12 monthly charts:] L'Année scientifique et industrielle, tom. 29 (1886), p. 549; La Revue maritime, tom. 89 (1885), p. 181; Nachrichten für Seefahrer, funfzehnter jahrgang (1884), p. 190; Cf. [re: Brault’s work generally:] Arnold COURT, ‘La Rose des Vents Segmentaire de Léon Brault (1839-1885)’, La Météorologie, 8 serie (avril 1995), pp. 118-125; E. DURAND-GRÉVILLE, ‘Cartes de l'atmosphère du Commandant Brault’, La Nature: revue des sciences et de leurs applications aux arts et à l'industrie, tom. 13 (1885), pp. 347-350.

"Folio (55 x 38 cm): containing 14 maps, of which 2 are printed on thick white wove paper (each 55 cm x 72), published by Lemercier & Cie., and 12 are printed on thick laid paper bearing the ‘Dépôt de la Marine’ watermark (each 52 x 72 cm), some maps with neat contemporary mss. annotations suggesting use at sea, all maps folding loose-leaf into original marbled card portfolio with original linen ties and detailing and printed pastedown title label to front cover (Very Good, overall quite pleasing, some light wear along original vertical centrefolds, some maps a bit frayed around the edges with slight loss to blank margins, the odd small light stain, card portfolio with light wear). Exceedingly rare – the most sophisticated and accurate maritime anemological atlas of the 19th century, charting the wind patterns at points throughout the North Atlantic Ocean, by Captain Leìon Brault, head of the French Navy’s meteorological department, featuring 14 large format maps, including two sheets of seasonal overview / isometric charts and 12 monthly charts featuring Brault’s signature ultra-sophisticated wind roses that meticulously convey a wealth of data from each sector of the sea – a major milestone in both the history of thematic cartography and meteorology. During the age of sailing ships, vessels were at the complete mercy of the sea, and a captain’s job was mitigating the ocean’s rage and harnessing its winds as best as possible. Travel times were a matter of chance as much as the skill of the crew, and the best that could be expected was a safe voyage. During the age of steam ships, which had its heyday in the second half of the 19th century, vessels sought to conquer the elements, following more direct routes, even if that meant heading against the winds. Captains were expected to follow strict schedules, whether they oversaw a navy vessel seeking to rendezvous with a fleet, or a commercial ship carrying passengers or freight. Shipping companies that could hew close to schedule were rewarded with custom, while those who were habitually tardy suffered. During this era, it became a priority of navies and shipping firms to have a precise understanding of ocean winds and currents, with their great seasonal variations, so that they could properly plan their schedules and anticipate their fuel needs, etc. Moreover, the mid- and late 19th century saw the rise of the science of meteorology, whereby people used empirical data to predict the weather. A critical factor in this pursuit was a stellar understanding of ocean winds and currents. Weather prediction promised all manner of economic, military and social advantages, and the matter was of great import to authorities and commercial concerns worldwide. While crude, although not necessarily unhelpful, attempts to map ocean winds and currents were endeavoured during the 18th century, it was not until the middle of the next century that these efforts assumed a scientific form, predicated upon the analysis and consolidation of data gathered at sea from shipping logs, leading to its sophisticated graphic representation upon sea charts. A key advancement in maritime anemology (the study of winds) was the invention of the wind rose, in 1840, by the Birmingham glass manufacturer and amateur scientist Abraham Follett Osler. This circular diagram, placed at set locations on sea charts, featured arrows or lines emanating out of it in various directions, with their lengths corresponding to the strength of the prevailing winds from said directions. A great leap forward in mapping ocean winds came with the publication of the charts made by Matthew Fontaine Maury, the chief of the Depot of Charts and Instruments of the U.S. Navy. From 1847 to 1860, he produced charts of the waters and routes frequented by American vessels that featured wind roses at regular locations, with details predicated upon data gathered from hundreds of naval and merchant mariner shipping logs. Maury was followed by the excellent works of the likes of the Portuguese Admiral João Carlos de Brito Capello, who created the Ventos e Correntes do Golpho de Guineì (Lisbon, 1861), a series of four seasonal maps of the notoriously treacherous waters off West Africa. Captain Leìon Brault & the Apogee of Ocean Wind Mapping of the 19th Century Louis-Deìsireì-Leìon Brault (1839 - 1885) was a meteorologist and cartographer of uncommon brilliance and consequence. A graduate of the elite École polytechnique, he joined the French Navy upon his graduation in 1861. He served variously in West Africa and in Vietnam, and along the way developed a profound understanding of the sea. Brault was viewed as an extraordinary talent by his superiors, and by 1867 he was a Lieutenant, in command of his own vessel, as well as being the aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief of the French Navy in Vietnam. Sadly, however, that same year, he fell ill with a severe, incurable tropical disease that plagued him forth rest of his years. In 1868, Brault received medical leave from active service at sea, and was, at his request, transferred to the headquarters of the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine (the hydrographic office of the French Navy) in Paris, whereupon he was permitted to work fulltime on meteorological research. There he analysed thousands of shipping logs and sea charts and correlated the data to existing wind charts by the likes of Maury and Brito de Capello. These endeavours led Brault to create a series of quarterly (i.e., one chart for each of the four seasons) general wind charts of all the major sections of the world’s oceans. Importantly these works represented the ‘next generation’ of maritime anemological mapping, dividing the seas into even grids, within each of which was a wind rose of unprecedented sophistication, providing a vast amount of precise information. His works in this regard, all published by the Dépôt de la Marine, were Atlantique nord: cartes de la direction et de l'intensité probables des vents (1874); Atlantique sud: cartes de la direction et de l'intensité probables des vents (1876); Mer des Indes: cartes de la direction et de l'intensité probables des vents (1880); and Océan Pacifique: cartes de la direction et de l'intensité probables des vents (1880). Additionally, and relevant to the present work, Brault published a highly advanced textual analysis of the metrological profile of the North Atlantic, Étude sur la circulation atmosphérique de l'Atlantique Nord: suivi de 200 000 observations sur la direction et l'intensité des vents d'été et d'hiver de cet océan (Paris: Arthus Bertrand, 1877). Brault’s work was hailed as a tour de force, leading to his promotion to Commander in 1876, and his appointment, in 1878, as the chief of the meteorological office of the Dépôt de la Marine. His charts won him a Gold Medal at the 1878 Paris Exhibition, and in 1882, he won a prize of 3,000 Francs from the French government. In 1883, he was made an officer of the Légion d'honneur and was subsequently promoted to Captain. The Present Work in Focus The present atlas represents Brault’s most impressive and sophisticated work, yet it is today one his rarest publications. In 1881, Brault decided to further refine and perfect his 1874 charts of the seasonal wind profiles of the North Atlantic, which hosted what were then the world’s most important shipping lanes. Moving beyond the quarterly charts, he produced a series of 12 charts, one for each month of the year, predicated upon rigorous analysis of the best available data collected at sea. This provided a far more precise and practically useful guide for navigating the, often ferocious, winds of the North Atlantic, that had significant variations within each season, so representing a great leap forward from his earlier works. These charts were published and issued by the Dépôt de la Marine in 1881, although all examples are today extremely rare. Four years later, Brault issued two sheets of charts that contextualized the 12 monthly charts for the North Atlantic, describing the general nature of the winds during both the summer and winter, as well as the nature of the winds during both these seasons at times of ‘bourrasque’ (squalls, or gusts of wind), which varied for the normal ways but often still followed set patterns. These four maps were accompanied by isometric (wind pressure) charts of the same, which in part explained the wind patterns. In 1885, Brault consolidated his 12 seasonal maps of the wind patterns of the North Atlantic with his two sheets of seasonal/isometric charts to create the present atlas, which represented the apogee of not only Brault’s work but also of maritime anemology studies of the 19th century. Within the atlas, their first appears the two sheets of seasonal overview / isometric charts, each dated 1885. The first is the Atlantique Nord / Carte types des mouvements les plus généraux de l’atmosphère inférieure et des isobares correspondants [North Atlantic / Typical Map of the Most General Movements of the Lower Atmosphere and the Corresponding Isobars], featuring No. 1 - Mouvement le plus général des vents, pendant la saison d’été / Carte du mouvement le plus simple et le plus général des vents pendant la saison d’été [No. 1 - Most General Movement of the Winds during the Summer Season / Map of the Simplest and Most General Movement of the Winds during the Summer Season], which shows the normal wind patterns in the North Atlantic during the summer, while the Carte des isobares correspondant au mouvement général des vents indiqué par la carte ci-dessus [Map of Isobars corresponding to the General Movement of the Winds indicated by the Map above], below, shows the isometric profile. This is followed by No. 2 - Mouvement le plus général des vents, pendant la saison d’hiver / Carte du mouvement le plus simple et le plus général des vents pendant la saison d’hiver [No. 2 - Most General Movement of the Winds during the Winter Season / Map of the Simplest and Most General Movement of the Winds during the Winter Season] and the related Carte des isobars…, which show the same for the winter months. The second sheet features charts that show the same subjects, but during times of storms, with that which profiles the summer season being, No. 3 - Mouvement le plus général des vents, pendant la saison d’été / Carte du mouvement le plus général des vents en temps de bourrasque pendant la saison d’été [No. 3 - Most General Movement of the Winds during the Summer Season / Map of the Most General Movement of the Winds during the Gusts of the Summer Season], followed by the relevant Carte des isobars… This is followed by a chart profiling the winds during the storms of the winter season, No. 4 - Mouvement le plus général des vents, pendant la saison d’hiver / Carte du mouvement le plus général des vents en temps de bourrasque pendant la saison d’hiver [No. 4 - Most General Movement of the Winds during the Winter Season / Map of the Most General Movement of the Winds during the Gusts of the Winter Season], accompanied by the related Carte des isobars… There then follows the 12 separate charts for each month of the year, entitled Atlantique Nord / Cartes de la Direction des Vents (and respectively designated in top margin as: Janvier / Février / Mars / Avril / Mai / Juin / Juillet / Août / Septembre / Octobre / Novembre / Décembre), uniformly embracing the Atlantic waters between the latitudes of 55° North and 5° South, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. The covered maritime spaces are divided into even grids, with each bearing an individualized example of Brault’s signature ultra-sophisticated wind rose, representing data consolidated from each quadrant. The maps features, in the box lower left, text describing the wind roses employed on the charts, reading (as translated): ‘Lecture de la Carte’ [Notice on the Map] - Each tinted Polygon of this map represents the frequency of the different winds in the square where it is located. This uniform tint of the Polygons has been put only to make it better bring out the general movement of the winds. The small inner circle, seen in the centre of each square, contains the number of Observations that have been collected in that square. The small interior circlet does not represent anything by itself, but from its circumference emanate, in the direction of the rhumbs of the winds, arrows whose length represents as it follows the Direction of the winds. This is followed by the ‘Direction des Vents’ [Direction of Winds] - In each Polygon: the arrow emanating from the small inner circle in the direction N. represents the winds… [from the various directions, with] …The length of the arrows is proportional to the frequency of the winds they represent. As for ‘Calmes’ [Calms, or doldrums which yield no wind] The proportion of Calms is given by a circle, from the outer and concentric circle of Calms the small inner circle which contains the number of observations. Within a square, the distances of the circumferences of the circle of the calms and if the small inner circle is ¼ of the length of the largest arrow, this means that in the square the probability of calms is ¼ or 25%. In other words: We take the relation of the distance of the two circumferences to the length of the largest arrow, and thus this ratio gives in as ¼ the probability of calms in the considered square. Tragically, Brault died shortly after the completion of the present atlas, at the age of only 46, having finally succumbed to the illness he contracted eighteen years earlier in Vietnam. However, his charts left a valuable and enduring legacy, in that they set the new gold standard for how ocean wind charts should henceforth be composed, contributing greatly to the speed and safety of maritime navigation and the practice of meteorology, of profound value to mankind. Brault’s style of wind rose was taken up and modified by the Royal Navy officer Lieutenant C.W. Baillie from 1892 onwards, such that today it bears the name ‘Ballie’s Wind Rose’ (although it perhaps should rightly be named after Brault). A Note on Rarity Despite their great contemporary influence and value, all Brault’s sea charts are today extremely rate. It seems that the Dépôt de la Marine issued them in only small print runs for select scientific, naval and commercial use, while the survival rate of large-format nautical works is very low. We cannot find a clear reference to the present atlas (being a consolidated collection of all 14 of the constituent charts), let alone the location of another example (although a few examples likely survive in some French naval archives that are not inventoried online). However, we can find references in old publications to the constituent charts individually, including all 14 noted in a single place (but not necessarily consolidated as an atlas). Today, we can only find a couple isolated examples of the seasonal / isometric overview charts in institutions, held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (Lisbon). Moreover, the only market data we can find for any of the charts featured within the present atlas is for an example of the Janvier monthly chart (offered some years ago at a U.S. auction)." (Alexander Johnson/Dasa Pahor, 2023)

15646.000

Thematic Atlas

14

55

38

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Brault, Louis-Deìsireì-Leìon (1839 - 1885); DÉPÔT DES CARTES ET PLANS DE LA MARINE (FRENCH NAVY)