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ARROWSMITH, Aaron (1750-1823)

Chart of the World on Mercator's Projection Exhibiting all the New Discoveries to the present Time: with the Tracks of the most distinguished Navigators since the Year 1700, carefully collected from the best Charts, Maps, Voyages &c. Extant ... And regulated from the accurate Astronomical Observations, made in three Voyages Perform'd under the Command of Capt. James Cook

London: A. Arrowsmith, No. 24 Rathbone Place, 1 April 1790 [circa 1799]. Engraved map, period hand-colouring in outline, printed on six full sheets and two half sheets, joined to form a pair of large folding sheets. Sheet size: 50 3/4 x 78 1/2 inches, if joined.

The best world map published at the end of the 18th century, incorporating all of the discoveries made on Cook's great voyages, exhibiting new discoveries in the Pacific, as well as in the Arctic and along the northwest coast of America. Arrowsmith's first map and a major cartographic rarity.

Aaron Arrowsmith was the founder of one of the leading London map publishing houses in the early part of the nineteenth century. He came to London about 1770 from Durham, his birthplace, and worked as an assistant to William Faden and as a surveyor for John Cary for whom he carried out some of the road surveys which subsequently appeared in Cary's Travellers' Companion. In 1790, Arrowsmith set up his own business in Long Acre and soon established an international reputation. "Aaron Arrowsmith, Hydrographer to the King of England and Geographer to the Prince of Wales, was the most influential and respected map publisher of the first quarter of the nineteenth century ... His role in cartographic production was to gather the best information available from a wide variety of sources, weigh the relative merits of conflicting data, and compile from this the most accurate depiction possible of an area. Arrowsmith accomplished this synthesis better than any other commercial map maker of his day and, as a result, his maps were the most sought after and highly prized on three continents" (Martin & Martin, p. 113.) Arrowsmith specialized in monumental multi-sheet maps. These were generally separately issued and are now very scarce.

"We find [Arrowsmith] in 1790 established in Castle Street, Long Acre, where at great cost and labour, he brought out his first effort in map-making, A Chart of the World upon Mercator's Projection ... This chart, now rare, was published 1 April 1790" (DNB). It is stated elsewhere that "he made himself famous by his large chart of the world on Mercator's projection" (Encyclopedia Britannica).

When published in 1790, this map was not only Arrowsmith's first map, but also the first separately-issued English world map to show Cook's discoveries from all three of his voyages. While a seminal piece for any Cook collection, the map incorporates many other Pacific voyages. Indeed, nearly 30 tracks of explorers are marked, dating from 1492 to 1787, including the voyages of Furneaux, Surville, Tasman, Chirikof, Bering and others. "Clarity and accuracy were [Arrowsmith's] aims - and he achieved them as no English cartographer was able to before him. His maps are still essential to historians who want to delve into the history of the 18th-century exploration of the Pacific" (Bricker, Landmarks of Mapmaking, p. 98.)

Arrowsmith did a remarkable job, as the title suggests, synthesizing information from the most recent explorations. This included the most up to date information from voyages to the Northwest coast of America, as well as the Arctic. Regarding the former, Arrowsmith consulted the works of Meares, Portlock, Dixon and Duncan. Early issues of the map show the northwest coast as per those discoveries. However, on the present issue, Arrowsmith has corrected the mapping of the region around Queen Charlotte Islands to conform to Vancouver's discoveries and removed the references to Duncan. The present circa 1799 issue is the first issue to incorporate those important discoveries.

In the Arctic, Arrowsmith further displays his use of the most recent discoveries, incorporating information from Alexander MacKenzie's 1787-89 expedition. This information, as a 4-line note on the map attests, was derived from Mackenzie's own manuscript journal and pre-dates the 1801 publication of Mackenzie's Voyage.

The present example of the map appears to be an unrecorded state. Stevens and Tree cite 7 issues of the map published between 1790 and 1808, largely dated based on Arrowsmith's address in the imprint. Arrowsmith's move to Rathbone Place has not been firmly dated, with some sources suggesting it to be as early as 1796 and others as late as 1802 (this latter date clearly being incorrect as contemporary ads by Arrowsmith and reviews of his maps show his address as Rathbone Place by 1801). The present map is on wove paper watermarked 1799, suggesting the year of publication for this issue. The present copy conforms cartographically with Stevens's and Tree's fourth issue (i.e. with a 1794 dated note concerning the discovery of Wake Island in the Pacific, a 4-line note concerning McKenzie's discoveries in the Arctic and with Van Dieman's Land connected to the mainland), but with the imprint of their sixth issue. (It would appear that what Stevens and Tree cite as the fifth issue is actually a unique copy of the fourth issue, with additions as per the sixth issue comprised of an overlay showing Van Dieman's land). All issues of this separately-issued map are rare.

Wagner, Cartography of the Northwest Coast 744; Beddie 506; Stevens & Tree, "Comparative Cartography" 90, in Tooley, The Mapping of America..

#24965$40,000.00
 
 
ARROWSMITH, Aaron (1750-1823)

[Map of the World on a Globular Projection, Exhibiting Particularly the Nautical Researches of Capn. James Cook, F.R.S. with all the Recent Discoveries to the Present Time, ... This Map Is Respectfully Dedicated To Alexander Dalrymple Esqr. F.R.S. In Testimony of his many New and Valuable Geographical Communications To His most Obedient and very Humble Servant A. Arrowsmith]

[London: Compiled and Published by Aaron Arrowsmith, 1799]. Engraved double-hemispheric world map, printed on four sheets and joined to form a pair of large folding sheets (one of each hemisphere), period hand-colouring in outline. On wove paper watermarked J. Ruse. (Expert restoration along the folds). Sheet size: approximately 39 3/4 x 74 inches, if joined.

A fine large-scale world map incorporating the discoveries made on Captain Cook's voyages, compiled and published by one of the greatest English cartographers.

This map was first issued in 1794 and was one of the maps which made Arrowsmith's reputation. The map shows both hemispheres on a large scale and with impressive detail. Notably, the chart shows the tracks of all three of Cook's voyages, as well as information gleaned from other world travellers (for example, discoveries by Mackenzie and Hearne in the Canadian Arctic).

The map was corrected and re-issued in 1799 (as here), 1808 and 1814. The present example is from the 1799 plates, but without the title and dedication which were printed on separate sheets and are sometimes are found trimmed and mounted onto the map when when joined as a single wall map. Stevens and Tree identify the above four issues based on the imprints; this copy without that information, but can be dated to the 1799 issue cartographically, i.e. with Bass Strait present and named between Australia and Tasmania, and with no indication of the Louisiana Purchase.

Aaron Arrowsmith was the founder of one of the leading London map publishing houses in the early part of the nineteenth century. He came to London about 1770 from Durham, his birthplace, and worked as a surveyor for John Cary for whom he carried out some of the road surveys which subsequently appeared in Cary's Travellers' Companion in 1790. In that year he set up his own business in Long Acre and soon established an international reputation. "Aaron Arrowsmith, Hydrographer to the King of England and Geographer to the Prince of Wales, was the most influential and respected map publishers of the first quarter of the nineteenth century ... His role in cartographic production was to gather the best information available from a wide variety of sources, weigh the relative merits of conflicting data, and compile from this the most accurate depiction possible of an area. Arrowsmith accomplished this synthesis better than any other commercial map maker of his day and, as a result, his maps were the most sought after and highly prized on three continents" (Martin & Martin, p. 113). Arrowsmith specialized in monumental multi-sheet maps. These were generally separately issued and are now very scarce.

Stevens & Tree, "Comparative Cartography" 91b, in Tooley, The Mapping of America ; cf. Rumsey 30; cf. Beddie 514.

#24974$25,000.00
 
 
BERRY, William (fl. 1669-1708)

A Mapp of All the World in two Hemispheres in which are exactly Described all the Parts of the Earth and Seas. Described by Sanson, corrected and amended by William Berry

London: "Sold by William Berry at ye Sign of the Globe between Charing Cross and Whitehall", 1680. Engraved double-hemispheric world map, period hand-colouring in outline. (Expertly repaired tears at sheet edges). Sheet size: 23 1/4 x 35 1/8 inches.

Scarce separately issued seventeenth century English world map.

"William Berry, a minor map-seller who sometimes worked in conjunction with Robert Morden, has here adapted the Sanson world map as published by Hubert Jaillot in 1674. Berry has patriotically marked the islands discovered by Drake just off Tierra del Fuego and has added New Albion in the northern part of California, shown as an island. Decoration is minimal except for a cartouche carrying a dedication to Charles II and his coat-of-arms" (Shirley). Other differences from the Sanson map include additional toponyms in North America, reflecting English settlements, including Carolina.

The map was offered for sale as a separate sheet and within a composite world atlas offered for sale by Berry. Of the latter, Phillips writes: "This collection of English maps by William Berry is sometimes known as the English Sanson atlas. The maps were published separately at various dates and the atlas was issued without a title page. There are only two other copies of this atlas known, one in the King's collection in the British Museum, where it is regarded as one of the rarest of English atlases."

Shirley, Mapping the World 501; Wagner, Cartography of the Northwest Coast 417; cf. Phillips, Atlases 3442.

#25856$12,500.00
 
 
BLAEU, Jan (1596-1673)

Nova et Accuratissima Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula

Amsterdam: Jan Blaeu, [1662]. Copper-engraved map, with original colour. Latin text on verso. Skillful marginal repair to center fold. Sheet size: 19 1/2 x 24 inches.

An aesthetic chord of triumph and the culmination of Dutch cartography.

This is the new world map prepared by Blaeu for the eleven volume Atlas Maior of 1662. Unlike its predecessor with its marginal city views and native peoples, this is a double hemispheric map with the classical gods that personify each planet and Apollo, the Sun. Each planetary deity is portrayed with his astrological attributes: Mercury with flying cap and caduceus; Venus with cupid at her side; Mars armed for battle; Jupiter with thunderbolts; and Saturn brooding and holding a flag of a six pointed star (a symbol in Saturn worship). Just below to the left and right are portraits of Claudius Ptolemy and Amerigo Vespucci. At the base are the four allegorical personifications of the seasons, each on a chariot. All of which place Earth in a larger astrological and temporal context, and make the map an exaltation of the Western European achievements. This was the key to Blaeu's Great Atlas: the culminating work of 100 years of Dutch cartography and 300 years of European seafaring.
It is surely one of the most beautiful world maps ever made.

Shirley, The Mapping of the World, 428; van der Krogt, Atlantes 0001:2B.

#20834$28,000.00
 
 
CORONELLI, Vincenzo Maria (1650-1718) and Jean-Nicolas de TRALAGE (c.1540-1620)

Le Globe Terrestre Representé En Deux Plans-Hemispheres Et En Diverses Autres Figures

Paris: Jean-Baptiste Nolin, [after 1690]. Copper-engraved map, with original outline colour. Sheet size: 18 7/8 x 24 5/8 inches.

A very beautiful and finely engraved world map, principally devised by one of the period's greatest cartographers

This very fine map is the result of the synergy of the talents of Coronelli and his French colleague Tralage, popularly known as the Sieur de Tillemont. It principally depicts the world in a bi-hemispheric projection, and largely follows the geography represented on Coronelli's celebrated globe of 1688. California is shown to be an island, and in the enigmatic void that lies to the northwest is the 'Strait of Anian' that supposedly forms the western terminus of a presumed Northwest Passage. Beyond the strait, just to the northeast of Japan is the mysterious "Terre de Jessu," that supposedly represents Hokkaido. Much further south, the loosely-defined area that is now known as New Guinea is labelled as the "Terre de Quir," noting on the map that it was discovered in 1606 by the Spanish explorer Ferdinand de Quir. The only major addition here to Coronelli's established geography is the appearance of the Solomon Islands.

Surrounding these principal hemispheres are eight diverse hemispheric projections of the world, evincing a playful fascination with mathematics and perspective that anticipated the Enlightenment of the next century. Adorning the two upper corners of the map are a pair of hemispheres capturing the world from an oblique perspective, one centered on Paris, and the other from its diametrically opposite position in the antipodes. Also, in the upper portion of the map, is a pair of hemispheres capturing the world in an ovoid projection, and resting in the spaces in between the two main hemispheres are a pair of projections depicting the world from a perspective centered at the poles. In the lower left corner, the entire world is captured on a projection centered at the North Pole. Most strikingly, in the lower right corner the world is captured in a cordiform, or heart-shaped projection, which since it was first devised during the Renaissance was considered an iconological symbol of various humanist values.

Vincenzo Maria Coronelli, a Venetian scholar and Minorite Friar, became one of the most celebrated map and globe makers of his era. Throughout his industrious life he produced more than one-hundred terrestrial and celestial globes, several hundred maps, and a wealth of cartographic publications. In 1683, he completed the Marly Globes for Louis XIV, the largest and most magnificent globes ever made. In 1684 he founded the Academia Cosmografica degli Argonauti, the first geographical society, and was appointed Cosmographer of the Republic of Venice. The present map is the result of the lucrative partnership Coronelli formed in the late 1680s with the prominent Paris cartographer Jean-Baptiste Nolin, who printed editions of Coronelli's maps that flourished on the French market. Coronelli published two atlases, the Atlante Veneto (Venice, 1691) and the Isolario (1696-98), and compiled the first encyclopedia to be arranged alphabetically.

This map was first printed in 1690, and the present map is in the second state, as indicated by its dedication which honors Louis Philippeaux de Ponchartrain, the French minister of Finance.

Shirley, The Mapping of the World, 546

#19700$8,500.00
 
 
DE L'ISLE, Guillaume (1675-1726)

Mappe-Monde Drésse sur les Observations de Mrs. de l'Academie Royal des Sciences et quelques autres sur les memoires les pus recens

Paris: Chez l'Auteur Rue des Canettes pres de St. Sulpice, 1700. Copper-engraved map, hand-coloured in outline. Good condition, cut to just within the plate mark, with expert repairs to margins and central fold. Sheet size: 17 1/8 x 26 1/8 inches.

The rare first state of the celebrated world map by De l'Isle"one of the foremost cartographer's of the age" (Shirley)

This highly important map proved to be one of the most influential world maps of its time, and is present here in the rare first state. De L'Isle was a much esteemed figure who, after being tutored by the great Jean-Dominique Cassini, became the geographer to the French Academy of Sciences in 1702, and then 'Premier Géographe' to Louis XV in 1718. Rodney Shirley notes that "De L'Isle's work is distinguished by its scientific basis, the minute care taken in all departments, constant revision, and personal integrity".

In this map of the world, De l'Isle was among the first cartographers to re-establish California's true form as a peninsula, to give more or less accurate configurations to all five Great Lakes, and to show the full extent of the Mississippi. He was also one of the first to correct the attenuated form of the Mediterranean Sea. In fusing New Guinea and Australia, he followed William Dampier's presumed personal survey, but resisted the temptation to join Tasmania and New Zealand to Australia, an error soon to be popular. Curiously, the tip of South America is shown to curve sharply into the Pacific, a detail conspicuously amended in subsequent states of the map. The map also features the tracks of important circumnavigators including Magellan, Mendaña, Dampier, Van Noort, Le Maire & Schouten and the antipodean tracks of Abel Tasman.

ShirleyThe Mapping of the World: Early Printed World Maps 1472-1700, 603, plate 416; Wagner Cartography of the Pacific Northwest, 461

#19711$4,500.00
 
 
DE L'ISLE, Guillaume (1675-1726)

[World maps, hemispherical maps on two sheets] Hemisphere Oriental Dressée en 1720 pour l'usage particulier du Roy sur les Observations Astronomiques et Geographiques raportées la même année dans l'Histoire et dans les memoires del' Academie Rle. des Sciences [and] Hemisphere Occidental Dresse en 1720...

Paris: chez l'Auteur le Sieur Delisle sur le Quay de l'Horloge, 5 September 1724. Hand-coloured copper-engraved maps. Good condition but just shaved into plate area at upper and lower margins. Sheet size: 19 3/4 x 24 1/2 inches. .

A pair of hemispherical maps of the World, by De l'Isle.

Guillaume de l'Isle (1675-1726) was the son of a cartographer and a pupil of Jean Dominique Cassini, who, among other important contributions, aligned the study of astronomy to the study of geography. Under Cassini's direction, observations were made from locations all over the world that enabled longitudinal calculations to be made with much greater accuracy. De l'Isle carried on this exacting work with remarkable dedication and integrity, constantly revising and improving his maps. These maps exemplify the characteristics which led to De l'Isle achieving his reputation as the outstanding cartographer of his age. He was very exacting about geographical information, and what wasn't known, for example the northwestern coast of North America, he left blank. He avoided to a remarkable extent common mistakes passed on from mapmaker to mapmaker, including the widely believed notion that California was an island. While precision was his primary goal, his maps are invariably elegant and attractive.

#21530$2,250.00
 
 
HOMANN HEIRS

Planiglobii Terrestris/Mappe-Monde

Nuremberg: Homann Heirs, 1746. Copper engraving with outline colour, portions in full colour. Printed on laid paper. In good condition, some minor repairs on the center fold and soiling mostly in the margins. Image size: 17 ¾ x 20 ¾ inches. Plate mark: 18 ¾ x 21 7/8 inches. Sheet size: 20 ¼ x 24 inches.

A stunning 18th century double hemisphere map

During the seventeenth century map production was dominated by the large Dutch map publishers, just as international trade was dominated by Dutch merchants. By the end of the 17th century, the Dutch had had to make room for others in the world at sea and in the world of mapmaking. Founded in Nuremberg by Johan Baptist Homann in 1702, the Homann firm became the pre-eminent German map publisher for over a century. Homann published his first major atlas in 1707 and was soon after appointed Geographer to the Emperor. After Homann's death in 1724, the firm was continued by his son until 1730. The business was then bequeathed to his heirs with the stipulation that it conduct business under the name of Homann Heirs. The Homann family continued to produce maps until the beginning of the nineteenth century, and remained one of the most important German publishers on the Continent. They published the Neuer Atlas in 1714, the Grosser Atlas in 1737 and the Atlas Maior in 1780. In addition, they issued an atlas of German town plans, numerous school atlases, and an atlas of 20 maps of Silesia. Their excellent work had a lasting impact on European mapmaking during the eighteenth century, and many of the finest and most accurate maps of the period were produced by the Homanns.

Compiled by J. M. Haas, a professor of mathematics at Wittenburg, this important map is one of the finest double hemispheres produced by the Homanns. The world is divided into two large hemispheres, which occupy the center of the map. They are surrounded by four smaller globes showing various views of the earth from the North and South Poles. In addition there are two small diagrams depicting the axis of the earth in relation to the sun. Although California is no longer depicted as an island, the great northwest is still left blank above California, and the Hudson Bay is still open ended in the northwest corner. North America's northwest coast is based on the early Russian explorations in that area and includes views of the poles. Both Australia and New Zealand are incomplete, and Yedo is shown as part of mainland Asia north of Japan. The map is ornamented with two highly decorative cartouches with titles in Latin and French.

Moreland & Bannister, Antique Maps, online edition

#8182$3,000.00
 
 
MANNERT, Conrad von (1756-1834)

Die Erde in Zwey Halbkugeln

Nuremberg: Christoph Fembo, 1839. Copper-engraved map, with original outline colour. Good condition, trimmed within platemark on the top and sides, neat line intact. Sheet size: 17 1/3 x 23 1/2 inches.

A very attractive and finely colored twin-hemisphere map of the world

This very finely engraved map portrays the world on a bi-hemispheric projection. It evinces the great cartographic tradItion of Nuremberg, where it was devised by Professor Conrad Mannert. It depicts the globe during the height of European imperial expansion. Various possessions of the colonial hegemons are labelled, especially with regards to the British domains in the Americas. Geographically, the world has a form quite familiar to the modern eye, save the curious exception of the Canadian Arctic, which is largely shown to be an enigma.

#19790$1,000.00
 
 
MOLL, Herman (1654-1732)

A New & Correct Map of the Whole World

London: H. Moll, T. & J. Bowles, P. Overton & J. King, [dated 1709, but circa 1730]. Copper-engraved map, with original outline colour. Very good condition apart from expert repairs to splits at folds and tears, mostly marginal, mild soiling. Sheet size: 24 7/8 x 39 1/2 inches.

A magnificent and monumental World map, showing the globe in the early days of the Age of Enlightenment and European Imperialism

This fascinating global perspective, featured in double-hemispheres, depicts the latest state of knowledge of the world in the first quarter of the eighteenth-century. The delineation of Europe, South America, and southern Asia is quite sophisticated, while the depiction of regions further beyond suggests only fleeting exploration or outright speculation. Most of the Arctic is labelled "Parts Unknown," and the American West is largely conjectural, featuring California as an island, the most beloved of cartographic misconceptions. Lands depicted to the east of the Spice Islands are scarcely contemplated, "Iesso," or Hokkaido, is shown to be part of Siberia, and eastern Australia is left as a complete enigma, decades before the voyages of James Cook. This map was intended to satiate the intense English interest in maritime exploration and commerce. The oceans within the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn feature highly detailed hydrological information, most notably the direction of the ocean currents, that Moll gleaned from his esteemed contemporary Sir Edmond Halley. Evincing the scientific curiosity of the Enlightenment, each corner of the map features very detailed and elegant astronomical diagrams, including; the planetary systems according to both Ptolemy (geo-centric) and Copernicus (helio-centric), the appearance of the Sun according to the Jesuit intellectual Athanasius Kircher; and the Appearance of the Moon according to Jean-Dominique Cassini. The magnificent title cartouche, dedicated to George I, features classical sea gods, prefiguring the power of the Royal Navy that would allow the British to build a global empire later in the century.

The present map was part of Herman Moll's magnificent folio work, a New and Compleat Atlas. Moll was the most important cartographer working in London during his era, a career that spanned over fifty years. His origins have been a source of great scholarly debate; however, the prevailing opinion suggests that he hailed from the Hanseatic port city of Bremen, Germany. Joining a number of his countrymen, he fled the turmoil of the Scanian Wars for London, and in 1678 is first recorded as working there as an engraver for Moses Pitt on the production of the English Atlas. It was not long before Moll found himself as a charter member of London's most interesting social circle, which congregated at Jonathan's Coffee House at Number 20 Exchange Alley, Cornhill. It was at this establishment that speculators met to trade equities (most notoriously South Sea Company shares). Moll's coffeehouse circle included the scientist Robert Hooke, the archaeologist William Stuckley, the authors Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe, and the intellectually-gifted pirates William Dampier, Woodes Rogers and William Hacke. From these friends, Moll gained a great deal of privileged information that was later conveyed in his cartographic works, some appearing in the works of these same figures. Moll was highly astute, both politically and commercially, and he was consistently able to craft maps and atlases that appealed to the particular fancy of wealthy individual patrons, as well as the popular trends of the day. In many cases, his works are amongst the very finest maps of their subjects ever created with toponymy in the English language.

Shirley, Maps in the Atlases of the British Library I, T.Moll-4b, 1; Cf. Reinhartz, The Cartographer and the Literati: Herman Moll and his Intellectual Circle

#17934$9,500.00
 
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