Aaron Arrowsmith (1750–1823) was an English

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

, engraver, publisher and founding member of the Arrowsmith family of

geographers A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" ...

Life

Arrowsmith moved to

Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park leasehold estate, let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II of Engla ...

, London, from Winston, County Durham, when about twenty years of age, and was employed by John Cary, the engraver, and

William Faden William Faden (1749–1836) was an English cartographer and a publisher of maps. He was the royal geographer to King George III. He replaced Thomas Jefferys in that role. The title of "geographer to the king" was given to various people in ...

. He became hydrographer to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

and subsequently to the king in 1820. In January 1790, he made himself famous by his large chart of the world on Mercator projection. Four years later, he published another large map of the world on the globular projection, with a companion volume of explanation. Improperly attributed "Arrowsmith's projection", the globular projection used by Arrowsmith was invented by Giovan Battista Nicolosi, of Paternò, Sicily, in 1660, while Arrowsmith did not use it until 1794. The maps of North America (1796) and Scotland (1807) are the most celebrated of his many later productions. In 1804, 63 maps drawn by Arrowsmith and Samuel Lewis of Philadelphia (publisher of

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

's manuscript map of the Northwest) were published in the ''New and elegant General Atlas Comprising all Discoveries to the Present Time.'' Later editions of the atlas were published in 1805, 1812 and 1819. The 1804 and 1812 editions are digitised in the David Rumsey map collection. Arrowsmith's 1808 map of the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

eastern hemisphere The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth which is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and west of the antimeridian (which crosses the Pacific Ocean and relatively little land from pole to p ...

was updated, corrected and enlarged by James Gardner in 1825."James Gardner 1808-1840"
David L Walker, ''Sheetlines'', 101 (December 2014), pp31-38 He left two sons, Aaron and Samuel. Aaron Arrowsmith Jr (1802–1854), the elder of the two sons, was the compiler of the ''Eton Comparative Atlas'' and a ''Geographical Dictionary of the Holy Scriptures'' (1855). Samuel Arrowsmith (died 1839) was the compiler of a ''Biblical atlas'', and of various manuals of geography. Aaron Arrowsmith Sr was responsible for organising the volume of maps for ''

Rees's Cyclopædia Rees's ''Cyclopædia'', in full ''The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature'', was an important 19th-century British people, British encyclopaedia edited by Rev. Abraham Rees (1743–1825), a Presbyterian minis ...

'', 1802–19. The business was thus carried on in company with John Arrowsmith (1790–1873), nephew of the Aaron Sr. In 1821, they published a more complete North American map from a combination of a maps obtained from the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

and Aaron's previous one.

Mount Arrowsmith Mount Arrowsmith is the highest mountain east of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. Its dominant rock is basalt. The mountain is contained within the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region and as of September 18, 2009 is designated part of hectare ...

, situated east of Port Alberni on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

, British Columbia, is named for Aaron Arrowsmith and his nephew John Arrowsmith.

Maps published

*''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.'', 1790 (8 sheets) *''A Map Exhibiting All the New Discoveries in the Interior Parts of North America'', 1 January 1795, with numerous other editions, including i
17961802
1811
1814
1818
1819
an
1824
The 1802 version of this map was studied closely by

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

prior to the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

and the 1811 edition was updated with the published information from that expedition in the 1814 edition. *''Chart of the Pacific Ocean Drawn from a great number of Printed and Ms. Journals...'', 1798
1820 edition
(9 sheets)
''Africa To The Committee and Members of the British Association'', 1802 (4 sheets)1811 edition''Chart of the West Indies And Spanish Dominions in North America'', 1803 (4 sheets)
*''Map of America'', 1804
1808 edition
1811 edition *''Chart of the East Indies Islands, Exhibiting the several Passages between the Indian and Pacific Oceans'', 1800
1809 edition1812 edition1824 edition''A New Map of Mexico and Adjacent Provinces Compiled from Original Documents.'', 1810 (4 sheets)
*''Map of Countries Round the North Pole'', 1818

References

;Attribution *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrowsmith, Aaron English geographers English cartographers 1750 births 1823 deaths