San Juan Fernandez, or Robinson Crusoe's Island, South Pacific Ocean.
Original sketch made at sea, on board the USS Lexington, 1838, with accompanying handwritten description:
The Island of St. Juan Fernandez or "Robinson Crusoe's" Island - as seen fm the U.S. Ship Lexington, on the 9th March 1838, on Friday at Noon - distant 25 Miles off - bearing by compass West, North, West - The Island covered with many clouds at the time.
Single leaf, 235 x 172 mm
The small group of islands which comprise San Juan Fernandez lie about 670 km off the coast of Chile, and were uninhabited at this time. The Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk was marooned here of his own volition, from 1704-1709. Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe (1781) is loosely based on Selkirk's experience.
The naval sloop USS Lexington (1825) was stationed in the eastern Pacific during the late 1830's in order to protect American commercial interests.
Old folds; good, stable condition.
Price on request.