1692 Americae
DESCRIPTION
This is an uncommon miniature map of the Americas that presents a unique combination of cartographic myths and imperial colonial ambitions.
Issued in Antwerp by Jacques Peeters in 1692 and again in1696, the map appeared in L’Atlas en abrégé ou nouvelle description du monde and was later reused in Spanish and Flemish geographic compilations associated with Sebastián Fernández de Medrano. Although no cartographer is named, the engraving is signed “Harrewyn f.” at lower left, identifying the engraver, with the initials “I.P.” beneath the seated figure in the title vignette. The plate’s publishing history extends into the early eighteenth century through later Spanish editions printed in Antwerp and Madrid.
Geographically, the map preserves several defining features of late seventeenth-century cartographic hopes and misconceptions. California is depicted as an island, fully separated from the mainland, with the sea to its west explicitly labeled “Mare Californiae.” On the opposite side of the continent, the North Atlantic is expansively labeled “Mare Canadense sive Novæ Franciæ” (The Canadian Sea, or New France), a striking and relatively uncommon designation that reflects imperial ambitions to claim the new world on maps.
The geography further suggests the possibility of a Northwest Passage, with open waterways shown on either side of the continent. The Great Lakes appear in an early transitional form, most notably with Lake Superior open-ended on its western side, reinforcing the idea of a potential interior route linking Atlantic and Pacific waters. In South America, the inclusion of the legendary Lake Parime, long believed to be the location of the Golden City of El Dorado, illustrates how myth and reported geography coexisted in European cartography.
An engraved title cartouche at lower left depicts palm trees and a scene of Indigenous figures and Europeans in discussion, serving as a visual emblem of encounter, exchange, and imperial ambition.
Ref: UC Berkeley Library Geodata
CONDITION
1200 W. 35th Street #425 Chicago, IL 60609 | P: (312) 496 - 3622