Captain Cook’s Charts Barred From Export

The UK government has imposed a temporary export bar on a collection of over 200 nautical charts and related artefacts to prevent the archive from leaving the country. 

Valued at £6 million, the historic charts - including original copper plates used by Captain James Cook - date from the late 18th and 19th centuries, and are currently held by Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson Ltd, which has offered them for sale.

The export bar creates a six-month window during which UK museums or institutions may negotiate purchase of the archive, ensuring it remains accessible for researchers and the public. 

“This extraordinary collection helps us better understand Britain’s transformation into a global maritime power,” said Arts Minister, Sir Chris Bryant. “I hope that a museum or institution can come forward to help secure this collection for future generations so that researchers and the public can learn about this crucial chapter in British history”.

Alongside more than 200 working charts and rare maritime atlases in their original “blueback” bindings, the collection features a copper plate for an early Cook chart. These copper-plate etchings guided Cook’s three voyages across the Pacific and Southern Oceans and showcase Britain’s commercial chart-making heritage.

The archive also includes a chair believed to have been used by Lord Nelson and a pocket chronometer that travelled on HMS Beagle’s second voyage (1831–1836), carrying Charles Darwin on his transformational scientific expedition. Only last month, the government placed a similar export pause on that chronometer, valued at around £200,000.

Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson traces its roots to 1904, when three chart-publishing firms, each with origins in the mid-1700s, merged to meet the navigational needs of London’s bustling docklands. 

The company’s archive represents the largest surviving record of early commercial chart production, charting the rise of British seafaring, global trade and naval supremacy.

The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest recommended the export bar, advising that this unique collection qualifies as a national treasure. Should no UK buyer emerge by the expiry date, the government may grant an export licence.

The decision is part of a wider effort to safeguard Britain’s maritime artefacts against dispersal overseas. Officials have indicated that they stand ready to support a UK acquisition through purchase grants or matched-funding schemes, subject to budgetary approval. 

With the clock now ticking, national and regional museums are considering bids to retain one of the key collections illuminating the nation’s nautical heritage.
 

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