The Mackay-Bennett Atlantic Cable Charts and other material

A large collection of charts,over 70 (seventy), mainly 38 x 27", relating to the routes of submarine cables across the Atlantic, mainly to the cables laid by the Mackay-Bennett (of Titanic fame) between 1884 and 1901, but also drawing in other cables going back to 1866. The routes appear as coloured lines, dotted lines indicating assumed routes. There is considerable information about repair operations by such vessels as CS Faraday, and good detail about the routes. The charts of the Mackay-Bennett cables are not complete (numbers given below) but the bulk that cover the crossing of the Atlantic survive. The ones concerned with landfalls (Ireland, Fayal, Newfoundland/Nova Scotia, Canso) have particularly dense detail, made more attractive by the use of colour for routes and coastline. Many Mackay-Bennett charts present the details of a repair operation, especially in 1884-5. The main body of the charts are numbered (reverse) and the following are present: 1-3inc., 23, 24, 24A, 25A 26A, 27, 27A 28, 28A, 29, 29A, 30, 31, 31A, 32, 33, 34A 35, 37-40 inc., 42-73 inc., 81, 82, 85-91 inc., 93 (badly torn, text mainly present), 94, 97. There is also a set of 4 charts headed "1889 New York - Canso Cables. Chart no. 1-4" (chart printed 1880), some damage with some loss of text, routes and details of repair in colour. With: a drawing, 34" x 11", of a "Conductor Joint" (AEI Woolwich - Cross Channel Cable Factory Joint), sl. damaged. And: a blue print entitled "Operation Chart 1st to 8th Sept. 1881, including Tows and drawings of knots found in cable picked up by grapnel. And: (Commercial Cable Co) Chart of the "Restoration of Main No. 4B by CS All America, CS John W. Mackay, CS Faraday. This material originated from Siemens & Co. (labelled as such) and presumably was a record they kept for internal use and development.