THE GEOGRAPHICAL PLAN OF THE ISLANDS AND FORTS OF ST. HELENA

Is Dedicated by permission to Field Marshal His Ro[ya]l Highness The Duke of Kent and Strathearn.

Together with: A descriptive sketch of St. Helena printed on the rear of the map to accompany the plan. There is a slight cut across the text on the rear, which results in 2 lines being omitted. This descriptions details what is included in the plan.

First state of the Map: Hand coloured folding engraved map (440 x570mm) mounted on linen, a very good copy

No publication details are included on the map, but it was first published in 1815. In the bottom right corner of the plan are facsimile signatures of Napoleon when he was First Consul and then Emperor

Aesthetically somewhere between a topographical survey and a landscape drawing, Lieutenant R. P. Read’s plan of St Helena was put up for sale in London at the end of 1815, in response to public demand for information on the “prisoner of Europe”.

This plan was published in four versions, following the change of residence of “Buonaparte”. The first version placed the residence at Plantation House. This error was rectified in version two, which correctly attributed The Briars as his place of residence (as a guest of the Balcombe family).
https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/images/descriptive-sketch-of-saint-helena-to-accompany-lieut-reads-geographical-plan-of-the-island/