Arrowsmith’s iconic world map on a twin-hemisphere, or globular, projection, charting the routes of Captain Cook’s three voyages.

First published in 1794, the map is on the same scale (five equatorial degrees to one inch) as Arrowsmith’s 1790 ‘Chart of the World on Mercator’s Projection’. The two maps were intended, as he states, to complement one another, exhibiting “the contrast between the two best projections upon which general maps of the world can be constructed”.

The map is typical of Arrowsmith’s work. With myth, misconception, and guesswork stripped away, the style is sparse and elegant, prioritizing cutting-edge geographical detail over decorative flourish. All three voyages made by Captain Cook are plotted (1768-1771, 1772-1775, and 1776-1779). Visible, too, are the routes of other explorers, including that taken in 1773 by Captain Constantine John Phipps, later Baron Mulgrave, towards the North Pole.

The present example appears without the title and dedication, which, as these were printed on separate sheets, is not unusual for this map. The following features can, however, date it to 1808: the appearance of “Bass’s Strait”, separating Australia from Tasmania; the increased detail on the “Stony Mountains” (that is, the Rockies); the removal of “Doegg Nation” and the lake that sits to its right from western North America; and the lack of detail in the southern coastline of Australia.

Aaron Arrowsmith (1750-1823) was the finest cartographer of his generation. Although he received little formal education, it is believed that he was taught some mathematical instruction by William Emerson, an author of several books on the application of mathematics to the area of cartography. Around 1770, Arrowsmith moved to London to seek employment. He seems to have worked for William Faden before joining John Cary Sr. in the early 1780s. There, he provided the measurements for John Cary’s early publication detailing the roads from London to Falmouth, his first signed work. Arrowsmith set up on his own in 1790 and over the next 30 years produced some of the most beautiful and elegant maps of the era.

The label pasted to the upper cover of the slipcase names the bookseller as “Wm. Allen (32) Dame Strt”. This is likely to be William Allen, the leading Dublin printseller of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, who traded from 32 Dame Street from 1786, until his death in 1825.