Andrew Bell; 1726 - 1809.

Together with the like of Robert Burns, James Watt, Walter Scott, Adam Smith and a few others, this Edinburgh enterprising resident was a typical product of the "Scottish enlightenment" age.
A metal engraver by trade, he also contributed to publications such as the Scots Magazine for which he produced maps which were not highly regarded at that time.
But his call to fame took place in 1768 when he teamed up with printer Collin MacFarquhar and editor William Smellie to produce the Encyclopaedia Britannica (only three volumes thick for its first edition).

An accurate map of Cuba, and the adjacent islands.
A plan of the city and harbour of Havanna capital of the island of Cuba.

This extremely rare double map was published in 1762 for the September monthly issue of 'The Scots Magazine".
No text on verso.
The map is still bound in the complete original Scots Magazine of 1762. Its asked price includes the entire magazine.

The Cuba map (9 1/2" X 6 13/16") uses the standard delineation of the time.
Notice that there are only two towns of importance on the island: Santiago (St Jago), and La Havana (Havanna, or St Christophers). When founded on the south coast (at present day Surgidero de Batabano) in 1515, the settlement was named San Cristobal de la Habana, which name it kept when the little colony was moved in 1519 on the northern coast, where it stands today.
Notice also the archipelago delineation for southern Florida.
The La Havana map (4 1/2" X 7 1/16") uses the accepted coastal delineation first provided by Antoine Jean de Laval in 1728. It shows a wealth of information on the city important buildings and on its defenses: forts, bastions, number of guns, walls.. All of interest to the readers who had just learned of its surrendering to english forces the month before.

The Scots Magazine; 1762.
Monthly magazines of the time were often bound to form "yearlies", with the twelve regular issues of the year, plus a slew of appendices and indexes for births, marriages, deaths, and also lists of new books, essays, poetry and historical facts. With over 700 pages, the present item is complete. It contains also a few engraved plates (such as the portrait of Frederick III, king of Prussia) and two other maps by A Bell: The West Indies and the Caribbean islands.