Americae Septentrionalis Circuitus

Cartographer(s): Claude Bartholomy Morisot
Date: 1643
Place: Dijon
Dimensions: 16.6 x 13.5 cm (6.5 x 5.3 in)
Condition Rating: VG

Out of stock

SKU: NL-00101 Category:

Mid-17th century French copperplate map with cartographic myths

Details

Charming and quite rare little map of North America, based primarily on Hondius.

The map shows a peninsular California, and to the west and north is a mountainous Quiuira. There are many place-names along the coast, translated from Spanish literally to Latin, resulting in such names as P. Fraudulentu for Cabo Engano, and Montes Niuguidi for the Sierra Nevadas. The bulk of the place-names are located on the western coast, with just a few names on the eastern coast, including Norumbega, Pr. Arenaru, and Croatoan.

Asiae Pars appears in the North Pacific, and a part of the mythical Australis Terrae is shown in the South Pacific. The portion of the map below the equator is filled with a large cartouche, obscuring South America. A pair of ships and a sea monster decorate the map.

The map is printed on a half-sheet (clipped at top and bottom) with Latin text on the verso (oddly, upside-down from the map). Claude Barthélemy Morisot (1592-1661), was a noted intellectual of his period. He published the only edition of his extensive naval history, Orbis Maritimi, from which the present map comes, in 1643.

Cartographer(s):

Condition Description

Trimmed to the neatline; text on verso slightly visible through the map.

References