1740 Carta Geografica Dell: America Settentrionale
DESCRIPTION
This finely engraved Venetian map of North America reflects mid eighteenth century European geographic understanding and was issued in Venice as part of Giambattista Albrizzi’s atlas publications. Drawing heavily upon French sources, particularly the cartography of Guillaume Delisle, it presents the continent as understood by Italian audiences in the early 1740s.
The map traces the eastern seaboard of the present day United States, the Gulf Coast, Mexico, and the Caribbean, dividing the continent into boldly hand colored regions labeled “Canada o Nuova Francia,” “Florida,” and “Nuovo Messico.” Florida extends broadly across much of the southeastern interior, reflecting early colonial conceptions of Spanish territorial claims. Numerous Indigenous nations are identified throughout the interior, a hallmark of French geographic models that sought to incorporate ethnographic information alongside physical geography. The northwestern interior remains largely undefined, emphasizing the limits of European exploration prior to later eighteenth century voyages to the Pacific.
Along the Pacific coast, the Channel Islands are delineated and several place names extend northward, yet the Gulf of California remains open. In keeping with contemporary debate, the map does not decisively portray California as either an island or a peninsula, leaving its northern connection ambiguous. This transitional treatment is typical of maps produced after the decline of the island theory but before full cartographic certainty had emerged.
The map is adorned by an elaborate allegorical cartouche in the upper left, featuring a triton bearing a flaming torch, accompanied by a sea creature and observing European figures gathered on shore. A distance scale in Italian miles appears at the upper right.
CONDITION
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