The World

Detailed double hemisphere world map, based on Arrowsmith.

This beautifully engraved world map shows the global extent of geographic knowledge in the first decades of the 19th century. New Holland (Australia) is roughly outlined, though Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) is clearly shown as an island. Nearby one can see the incomplete coast of New Britain near an insular New Guinea. A second ambiguous coastline can be seen further north on the Japanese island of Chica (Hokkaido).

The poles are largely devoid of detail, reflecting one of the last great bastions of unexplored territory, along with much of the interior of Africa and portions of the Pacific Northwest. The last contains several speculative westbound rivers, including one north of the Rocky Mountains that (had it existed) may effectively be used to traverse the continent.

Despite the inaccuracies, the image was based on one of the foremost cartographers of the day, according to the line at the bottom of the sheet – “From Arrowsmith’s Map of the World.” The map was engraved by W. Ralph and published in Philadelphia in 1820 by Benjamin Warner and Matthew Carey, for inclusion in A General Atlas: Being a Collection of Maps of the World and Quarters…