Wonderful world atlas by one of the United Kingdom's greatest 19th-century mapmakers, and the inheritor of the Arrowsmith firm, John Arrowsmith.
The atlas includes a diverse selection of maps, with much focus on overseas subjects, including an important map of Mexico and Texas, three Australian regional maps, six maps of the Caribbean and South America, and eight of Asia and the Middle East.
Complement of Maps
- World, as known to the Ancients (Orbis Veteribus Notus)
- World, on Mercator's Projection, with supplementary maps of the two Poles, drawn on the Polar Projection
- Europe, general map
- England & Wales, divided into Counties
- England & Wales, Inland Navigation, Rail Roads, Mail Coach Roads, Minerals & Geological divisions
- Scotland
- Ireland
- Sweden & Norway
- Denmark, with a supplemental map of Iceland
- Holland & Belgium, including Luxembourg & country to the East as far as the Rhine
- France, in Departments, with a supplementary map divided into Provinces, & the I. of Corsica
- Western Germany, comprehending the country to the East, as far as the Meridian of Salzburg, Prague, Dresden & Stettin
- Prussia & Poland, excepting the Prussian Provinces on the Rhine, which are included in Plate 12
- Russia, including Poland & Finland
- Austrian Empire, excepting a portion on the Italian side, West of the Meridian of Trieste, & the South portion of Dalmatia, the former included in Pl. 17 & the latter in Pl. 19)
- Switzerland, showing the Passes of the Alps from the Briancon on the S.W. to Glurns on the N.E. including the whole of Savoy, the Val Tellina, the Vorarlberg, and nearby the whole of Lombardy & Piedmont
- North Italy, including Sardinia, Piedmont, Switzerland, the States of the Austrian Empire, to the West of the Meridian of Fuane; & the Chains and Passes of the Alps & Apennines
- South Italy, including Sicily & the Maltese Islands
- Turkey in Europe, including the Archipelago, Greece, the Ionian Islands & the South part of Dalmatia
- Greece & the Ionian Islands
- Spain & Portugal
- Africa, general map
- North-western Africa
- Cape of Good Hope & South Africa
- Nubia & Abyssinia, including Darfur, Kordofan & part of Arabia
- Egypt, including the Peninsula of Mount Sinai
- Asia, general map
- Asia Minor &c. or Turkey in Asia
- Peria, Cabul, Beloochistan, also Khiva, Bokhara, Kokan, Kashgar, the Punjab &c. in Central Asia
- India or Hindoostan
- Burmah, Siam, & Cochin China, including the greater part of the Malaysian Peninsula
- China, proper
- Northern Asia, including Siberia, Kamtschatka, Japan, Mantchooria, Mongolia, Tehoongaria, Tibet, and the Himalaya Mountains
- Asiatic Archipelago, including on the North Canton, on the Eat, the Ladrone Islands, on the South, the N. Coast of New Holland, & on the W. Sumatra & Malay
- Discoveries in Australia
- Western Australia
- Van Diemen's Land
- Pacific Ocean
- America, general map
- British North America, including Russian N. America & portions of Greenland, Mexico, & the United States
- Upper Canada &c., including that part of the United States to the N. of the parallel of Philadelphia
- Lower Canada &c., including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, & and a large portion of the United States
- United States, marking the Canals and Rail Roads
- Mexico, including part of the United States territory
- West Indies & Guatimala, showing the Colonies in possession of the various European Powers
- South America, general map
- Colombia, comprising the Republics of Venezuela, New Grenada, & Equator, as well as British Guyana
- Peru & Bolivia
- Brazil, including the Banda Oriental
- La Plata & Chile, including Paraguay & the Banda Oriental
The Arrowsmiths were a cartographic dynasty which operated from the late-eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth. The family business was founded by Aaron Arrowsmith (1750-1823), who was renowned for carefully prepared and meticulously updated maps, globes, and charts. He created many maps that covered multiple sheets and which were massive in total size. His spare yet exacting style was recognized around the world and mapmakers from other countries, especially the young country of the United States, sought his maps and charts as exemplars for their own work.
Aaron Arrowsmith was born in County Durham in 1750. He came to London for work around 1770, where he found employment as a surveyor for the city’s mapmakers. By 1790, he had set up his own shop which specialized in general charts. Arrowsmith had five premises in his career, most of which were located on or near Soho Square, a neighborhood the led him to rub shoulders with the likes of Joseph Banks, the naturalist, and Matthew Flinders, the hydrographer.
Through his business ties and employment at the Hydrographic Office, Arrowsmith made other important relationships with Alexander Dalrymple, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and others entities. In 1810 he became Hydrographer to the Prince of Wales and, in 1820, Hydrographer to the King.
Aaron Arrowsmith died in 1823, whereby the business and title of Hydrographer to the King passed to his sons, Aaron and Samuel, and, later, his nephew, John. Aaron Jr. (1802-1854) was a founder member of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and left the family business in 1832; instead, he enrolled at Oxford to study to become a minister. Samuel (1805-1839) joined Aaron as a partner in the business and they traded together until Aaron left for the ministry. Samuel died at age 34 in 1839; his brother presided over his funeral. The remaining stock and copper plates were bought at auction by John Arrowsmith, their cousin.
John (1790-1873) operated his own independent business after his uncle, Aaron Arrowsmith Sr., died. After 1839, John moved into the Soho premises of his uncle and cousins. John enjoyed considerable recognition in the geography and exploration community. Like Aaron Jr., John was a founder member of the RGS and would serve as its unofficial cartographer for 43 years. Several geographical features in Australia and Canada are named after him. He carried the title Hydrographer to Queen Victoria. He died in 1873 and the majority of his stock was eventually bought by Edward Stanford, who co-founded Stanford’s map shop, which is still open in Covent Garden, London today.