Nova et accurata totius Americæ tabula.
Copperpate wall map originally printed on 6 sheets.
| Other Authors: | |
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| Format: | Map |
| Language: | Latin Dutch Spanish French English |
| Language Notes: | Text mainly in Latin, and some text in Dutch; place names in Dutch, Spanish, French and English. |
| Published: |
Amsterdam :
Gedruckt tot Amsterdam by Frederick De Wit, inde kalverstraet by den Dam, inde Witte Pascaert,
1672.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Copperpate wall map originally printed on 6 sheets. |
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| Item Description: | Title in illustrated cartouche featuring indigenous figures, local fauna such as bears, deer, and foxes, and classical allegories. Relief shown pictorially. Prime meridian: Tenerife, Canary Islands. Illustrations show sea battles in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as scenes depicting Europeans interacting with indigenous peoples. Additional circular map in elaborate cartouche centered on regions below the Arctic: Cum Regionum sub Polo Arctico aliæ ad Europam, aliæ ad Asiam, reliquæ ad Americam spectent ... [in text box]. Height with title banner: 105.5 cm. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain considered Florida as a geographic entity which extended north to the Chesapeake Bay (Bahía de Santa María) and west beyond the Mississippi River demarcated by the green line on this map, which includes much of modern Texas. (to my eye, the green line cuts Texas between the Edwards Plateau and the Llano Estacado and draws the southern border at the Nueces River.) Of course, what was claimed differed from actual control especially in this age of European imperial competition. The map includes coastal features, European and Native American settlements, and pictorial representation of mountain ranges fitting the European understanding of the Americas in the third quarter of the 17th century. The river systems are recognizable, yet strange or named differently than we know them. For example, the Mississippi (marked as the B. del Spirtu Santo) enters the Gulf of Mexico quite to the west of its actual location and reflects the perception of the 1680s pre-LaSalle expeditions to Louisiana and Texas. The Red River is shown as the western branch of the Mississippi yet attested Caddo villages - named in de Soto's 1540s entrada and later in the 1700s - are easily identified (Naguater (Naguatex), Nysoona (Nisoone), Ays, and Xualatino (Soacatino). Similarly, Quigata is likely modern Wichita or Ouachita. Continuing along the coast, the Río Escondido is the Nueces River and the Río Bravo is, of course, the Río Grande. The dry climate of South Texas is coded on the map with toponyms like Costa de Deserta and Médano de S. Magdalena refering to the primary and secondary dunes and deep sands located well inland on the South Texas Sand Sheet.--Anton R. duPlessis, Curator, Cushing Memorial Library & Archives. Map also issued with side panels of city vignettes, text boxes, with title in ribbon: Nova totius Americæ tabula. |
| Physical Description: | 1 map : hand colored, linen backed ; 102 x 125 cm, on sheet 111 x 129 cm |