Hundreds of history buffs are descending on the NSW State Library as it marks 200 years to the day since the first map of Australia's coastline was published.

Matthew Flinders, the first person to circumnavigate Australia, was also the first to map its coastline, however the first published map was produced by French naturalist Nicolas Baudin.

The two crossed paths during their long voyage around the coastline, meeting unexpectedly in the waters of Encounter Bay near Victor Harbor in South Australia.

Baudin died in Mauritius from tuberculosis in 1803 and his work was completed by fellow cartographer and explorer Louis de Freycinet.

Ironically, Flinders arrived in Mauritius three months later and was imprisoned for six-and-a-half years, hence delaying the publication of his charts.

Both maps are centre stage of a four-day Australian and New Zealand map conference at the NSW State Library.

Elise Edmonds, the state library's maps curator, says Baudin's fascination with the fauna and flora in Tasmania meant Flinders produced his map first.

"Baudin was besotted with Tasmania's beauty and was so eager to illustrate its plant and birdlife, that by the time they sailed up the east coast, Flinders had already charted the unknown Great Australian Bight," she said.

"The French spent two months too long in Tasmania and it cost them."