1666 Paskaerte van Nova Granada en t'Eylandt California.
DESCRIPTION
By: Pieter Goos
Date: 1666 (dated) Amsterdam
Dimensions: 17 x 21 inches (43.2 x 53.4 cm)
"Perhaps the most attractive and certainly the most definite representation of California as an island. California is the centre and 'raison de'etre' of the map." (Tooley) " . . . This is one of the most desirable of all California as an island maps." (Burden)
This sea chart by Goos focuses on the ‘Island of California’, the long-lived misconception started by British mathematician Henry Briggs in 1622. Maps from earlier times depicted California as a peninsula, but Spanish exploratory expeditions in the early 1600s returned to Europe to report it as a large island, completely cut off from the mainland.
A map depicting it as such was purportedly taken during a Dutch raid of a Spanish ship and the mistaken news was circulated from Amsterdam, and prominent cartographers such as John Speed, Jans Jansson, and Nicolas Sanson adopted the idea of it as an island as truth new island and the practice of depicting it as such became commonplace.
The myth continued to be taken as truth until the early 18th century, when a Jesuit priest made an overland journey which proved the error. In 1747 the king of Spain by decree declared it to be part of the continent, but many cartographers continued to depict California as an island for decades despite his proclamation.
The Pacific Ocean fills much of the chart and is criss-crossed with rhumb lines. The map is embellished with a compass rose, two ships at full sail, and in the lower left the legend with two putti holding dividers and a cross staff. The decorative title cartouche in the upper right features three putti and floral garlands surrounding an ornate frame.
Pieter Goos was one of the preeminent publishers of sea charts and atlases of his time. His work was esteemed by both seamen and wealthy merchants, and has long been prized by collectors for his strong, clear engraving and elegant, balanced ornamentation.
CONDITION
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