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Source Description
Engraved title page depicting natives, a trader, barrels of goods and indigenous flora and fauna on an island. Ships and other islands in the background. Putto with a trident and a torch above the title.<br/><br/>We Are One: Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to the King, compiled an atlas devoted exclusively to the Caribbean region because of its importance within Britain’s commercial empire. The atlas’s frontispiece, like map cartouches of the period, aims to evoke the economic and cultural landscape of the region. This iconic scene shows the African slaves who worked the Caribbean sugar plantations, which had very high mortality rates. Bundles of sugar cane lie on the right. The barrels shown most likely contain molasses, a byproduct of sugar production and a chief export along with sugar. The large ships in the background could have transported these commodities to other North American colonies or Europe.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
3f462x82n
label
The West Indian atlas [frontispiece]
core
obj
dtoType
map
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
3f462x82n
contentType
map
stage
normalized
title
The West Indian atlas [frontispiece]
description
Engraved title page depicting natives, a trader, barrels of goods and indigenous flora and fauna on an island. Ships and other islands in the background. Putto with a trident and a torch above the title.<br/><br/>We Are One: Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to the King, compiled an atlas devoted exclusively to the Caribbean region because of its importance within Britain’s commercial empire. The atlas’s frontispiece, like map cartouches of the period, aims to evoke the economic and cultural landscape of the region. This iconic scene shows the African slaves who worked the Caribbean sugar plantations, which had very high mortality rates. Bundles of sugar cane lie on the right. The barrels shown most likely contain molasses, a byproduct of sugar production and a chief export along with sugar. The large ships in the background could have transported these commodities to other North American colonies or Europe.
date
["1783"]
year
1783
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
No known restrictions on use.
reuseAllowed
no restrictions
language
English
identifierLocal
06_01_014249
creators
Jefferys, Thomas, -1771
Robert Sayer and John Bennett (Firm)
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
American Revolutionary War-Era Maps
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection
subjects
West Indies--Pictorial works
subjectsGeographic
West Indies
genreBasic
Maps
typeOfResource
Cartographic
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
pageCount
1
source
import
pubPlace
London
publisher
Printed for Robt. Sayer & John Bennett
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
dn39z222j
extent
1 sheet ; 46 x 71 cm
notes
Title page from Jeffery's West-India atlas. London: Robert Sayer and John Bennett, 1783.
Includes latitude and longitude (from Ferro and London) scales.
Boston Public Library copy removed from the atlas (G1600 .J44 1783).
hasTranscription
no
dcId
3f462x82n
type
map
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
cf8eddb889281ef8