Carte du Canal des Isles Philippines par lequel passe le Galion de Manille et les Iles voisines de ce Canal [A Chart of the Channel in the Philipine Islands Through which the Manila Galeon passes, and the Islands Visbile in that Channel]

Description

hand-coloured copper engraving.

Chart of the Northern Philippines, from Lord George Anson’s 2nd French edition ‘Voyage Autour du Monde’,  published by La Compagnie des Libraires, Paris, after Walter’s ‘A Voyage Round the World in the Years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV’, with 42 maps and engravings.
While Great Britain was at war with Spain in 1740, Anson led a squadron of 8 ships on a mission to disrupt or capture Spain’s Pacific possessions. Returning to Britain in 1744 via China and thus completing a circumnavigation, the voyage was notable for the capture of the Manila galleon “Cavadonga” but also horrific losses mostly due to scurvy with only 188 men of the original 1,854 surviving.
Anson was compared with Francis Drake and was promoted to First Lord of the Admiralty in 1751. It was a vast popular and commercial success as the spoils form the Galleon financed virtually the entire British Navy.