Explore the continuously evolving Heritage Collection, presented by the Nelson Meers Foundation.
![Temple of the West, from Description de L'Egypte ... Paris, 1809-[28]](/archive/images/exhibitions/2008/heritage/sm/a1964001u.jpg)
Surveyors, 1965
S. T. Gill (1818-1880)
Chromolithograph
From The Australian Sketchbook, Melbourne, DSM F980.1/G/ f.14
Topographical drawing was an important skill for surveyors and mapmakers before the advent of photography. Good surveyors needed to measure and calculate well. Starting from the departure point, the surveyor measured the distance travelled each day using lengths of chain or steel bands. With every change of direction, readings were taken from the circumferentor (or surveyor’s compass, later replaced by the theodolite) and noted, with detailed observations about any landmarks, minerals, flora and fauna or Indigenous inhabitants encountered.
On display: January to November 2009