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ARROWSMITH, Aaron (1750-1823)
[Composite Atlas including large scale maps of India, the Middle East and Africa]
London: A. Arrowsmith, 1804-1814. Large folio (31 1/2 x 21 3/4 inches). Mounted on guards throughout. 6 engraved maps by Arrowsmith (2 hand-coloured, 3 hand-coloured in outline) on 25 sheets (21 double-page). Expertly bound to style in diced half russia over contemporary marbled paper-covered boards, the flat spine divided into eight compartments by double gilt fillets, red morocco lettering-piece in the second compartment.
A very fine composite atlas, including six of Aaron Arrowsmith's monumental maps, recalling the enormous importance of India to Britain and to the continued health of the British Empire during the 19th century
The huge actual and potential wealth of India at the beginning of the 19th century ensured that it was viewed in a very proprietorial way by Britain and by her agents in India: the East India Company. Queen Victoria, the first Empress of India, spoke of India as the 'jewel in the Crown of Empire' and fully recognized the pivotal role that India played in creating the largest empire the world has ever seen. Knowledge of, and the protection of the routes between Britain and India were of prime importance and the present atlas appears to have been compiled with this in mind. The first map provides the best available detailed information on India itself, the second map tracks the various overland routes to India from Constantinople, and incidentally via Egypt and the Red Sea. Sections of this more southerly route are also explored in the third map which gives details of the country between Aleppo and Jerusalem, and the fifth and sixth maps which show Egypt, the Nile and the overland route from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. The fourth map, a large scale map of Africa, is a distillation of all the latest information needed for a successful sea-route journey to India via the Cape of Good Hope.
1. [India] -To Mark Wood ... Late Chief Engineer and Surveyor General, Bengal this Map of India compiled from various Interesting and Valuable Materials is inscribed ... [London:] A. Arrowsmith, 1804. Engraved map hand-coloured in outline, on 6 double-page sheets.
A truly spectacular map: the combined image area of 75 x 63 inches really does give some idea of the vast size of the Indian sub-continent. Arrowsmith's dedication of this map to Wood is probably more a reflection of the fact that Wood was in the public eye, having recently published two successful works on India and the route to India, than his work as a surveyor which had ended over ten years earlier. Sir Mark Wood (1747-1829), after a distinguished career in the East India Company, culminating with his appointment as surveyor-general in 1787 and chief engineer in Bengal in 1790, had returned to England in 1793. The Dictionary of National Biography notes that the British Library holds three manuscript surveys by Wood of Calcutta and its environs.
2. [Delhi to Constantinople] - Outlines of the countries between Delhi and Constantinople. London: A. Arrowsmith, 1st January 1814. Engraved map hand-coloured in outline, on 8 sheets (4 double page and 4 single page).
First issue of one of the finest early nineteenth century maps of the Middle East, which if assembled would have an image area of 60 x 112 inches. It was specifically constructed to show the overland routes between Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and Delhi, capital of British India. The inspiration for the map may be found in Napoleon's campaigns in Egypt, which led to a concern in Britain that the overland passage to India might be cut, or that it might need to be defended. In such an event, an accurate, large-scale map of the region would be invaluable. Arrowsmith was the most conscientious and scientific mapmaker working in England at the time, and the logical candidate to construct such a map. The map was evidently well received as at least one further issue was published (with additions to 1816).
The present-day nations of Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, the Central Asian republics, much of Egypt, northern India, and northern Saudi Arabia are shown on a grand scale. The Persian Gulf, and the Caspian and Aral seas are shown in entirety. Each of these areas are shown in the finest possible detail, but many were still little-known in western Europe. While the Nile Valley, Asia Minor, and Palestine are well-formed, other regions, such as Afghanistan, Tibet and the Central Asian Republics, are largely blank. Arrowsmith has made a valiant effort to map the mountain spine of Asia: the Himalayas and Hindu Kush. Interesting legends and notations concerning the country, explorers and travelers, and so forth, cover the face of the map.
3. [Jerusalem to Aleppo] - A Sketch of the Countries between Jerusalem and Aleppo. London: A. Arrowsmith, 15th January 1814. Engraved map, on two double-page sheets.
A fine large scale map (which if assembled would have an image area of 52 x 30 1/2 inches) covering the overland route between Aleppo in northern Syria to Jerusalem in the Holy Land. As usual, Arrowsmith is scrupulous in his attempts to include all the latest information gathered from travellers from all parts of Europe.
4. [Africa] - Africa. London: A. Arrowsmith, 1811. Engraved map on four double-page sheets, hand-coloured in outline.
A later issue of a map first issued in 1802, but here with considerable information added. The map (image area 50 x 57 inches if assembled) is dedicated to the British Association for Discovering the Interior of Africa, and includes a fine emblematic vignette title
5. [Lower Egypt] - A Map of Lower Egypt from various surveys communicated by Major Bryce and other Officers. London: A. Arrowsmith, 10th November 1807. Hand-coloured engraved map on four double-page sheets.
Excellent fully coloured map with an image area of 48 x 62 inches if assembled, and including an inset of a plan of the battle of the Nile.
6. [Upper Egypt] - Map of Upper Egypt drawn from various documents. London: A. Arrowsmith, 20th November, 1807. Double-page hand-coloured engraved map.
A fully coloured map (image area 38 1/2 x 26 inches) showing the course of the Nile from Cairo south to Aswan, and including a cut through route from about three quarters of the way down the Nile across country to the bay of 'Cosire' on the Red Sea coast, with an enlarged view of the bay.
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#15854 $38,000.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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