Privately Bound Nautical Atlas w/ 29 Linen-Backed Charts From 1873 to 1920 - 29½" x 22¾"

A grand oblong folio atlas, privately bound in the 1920s, comprising a personal collection of 29 linen-backed nautical charts dated between 1873 and 1920. The binding combines brown leather and linen boards, now timeworn with a detached spine, softened corners, and handling marks that speak to long use. Inside, the large monochrome charts are mounted on linen for strength and remain crisp and legible, with only light age speckling to a few leaves.

Linen-backed charts were favored aboard ships for their resilience against moisture and frequent handling, outlasting paper charts in demanding maritime conditions. Compiled by mariners and hydrographers from sources such as the British Admiralty and the French Dépôt des Cartes et Plans de la Marine, these charts recorded soundings, lights, and coastal features essential to navigation. The presence of mixed dates and scales suggests a sailor’s or surveyor’s working archive, later handsomely bound for preservation, a striking artifact of seafaring history and 19th-century cartographic craft.

This imposing folio reads beautifully as a library or study centerpiece on a large desk, map table, or console, left open to an evocative chart. In a coastal interior it pairs well with ship models, telescopes, and framed coastal engravings, bringing authentic maritime character without overwhelming a room. For display, keep it flat on a stand or coffee table and rotate the open chart periodically, or store it on a low shelf for easy browsing.