Arrowsmith, Aaron (1750-1823).
Chart of the West Indies and Spanish Dominions.
Engraved map in four parts.
London: Arrowsmith, 1803.
25" x 37 1/2" sheet, 32" x 44 1/2" framed (each).
Comparable: Arader Galleries, 2015 - $27,450.

One of the first great British cartographers of North America, Arrowsmith introduced a new standard of excellence to mapmaking in the late eighteenth century. He created maps that were the result of careful synthesis rather than systematic, scientific inquiry. Arrowsmith's role in cartographic production was to gather the best available information from a wide variety of sources, weigh the relative merits of conflicting data, and compile the most accurate depiction possible of an area. He accomplished this synthesis better than any other commercial mapmaker of his day. As a result, his maps were the most sought after and highly prized on three continents and earned him the titles of Hydrographer to the King of England and Geographer to the Prince of Wales.