Rare & intricate engraved hydrographic chart of Bass Strait including parts of Tasmania & Victoria, 82 x 55.5cm (image), 103 x 77cm (frame), by French hydrographer Louis Claude Desaulses de Freycinet 1779-1842. Red #41 in margin, as published folds but otherwise pristine, professionally framed in excellent condition. Available for local pickup, alternatively, courier to be arranged and paid for by bidder. *From the Frank Coulter collection. Side note: This is a rare, separately published example of Freycinet's chart of the Bass Strait undertaken while part of the Baudin expedition. It was published in his celebrated and extremely rare hydrographic atlas which was part of the official account of the expedition. The title of the chart proclaims that it shows the survey undertaken by Freycinet in the 29-foot�Casaurina, but it actually shows the survey routes of the little�Casaurina�as well as those of boats of the larger ships associated with the Baudin expedition, the aptly-named�Geographe�and the�Naturaliste. The routes of each vessel are differentiated with varying hash marks, dots, etc. The chart is unadorned and contains no decorations; it was meant to simply and clearly communicate the extensive survey undertaken by the French despite the presence of another British voyage, that of the British Royal Naval officer Matthew Flinders, which was also surveying Australia at the time.