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Description

Highly important early map of the Atlantic Ocean and America from the Italian edition of Pedro de Medina's Arte de Navegar, first published in Valladolid in 1545.

Medina's map is the first printed map to note the Papal Line of Demarcation and the first map to identify the Rio Spiritu Santo in Texas.

Medina's map of America and the Atlantic is drawn from a number of sources, including Medina's own observation while serving under Hernando Cortes on his voyage to the New World. Medina also held an official position with the Spanish Government debriefing returning crews from their explorations in the New World, upon their return, making him privy to the best available Spanish information from the New World, at at time when Spain dominated Western Explorations.

The present map illustrates the early Spanish trade routes between Spain and her possessions in America. The ships are shown heading south-westerly on the outbound voyage and returning via the Gulf Stream. This depiction of the Gulf Stream is fascinating in and of itself, as it was not widely utilized and studied by most of the other European Sea powers for another 200 years.

The Papal Line of Demarcation between Spanish and Portugese Possessions in the New World is shown for the first time on a printed map, which was finally laid down by decree of Pope Alexander VI in 1493, following Columbus's return from his first voyage. Central America and especially Panama are shown with remarkable accuracy, although in the Italian edition (as with Nicholas de Nicolai's map of 1553), the Yucatan is mapped as an island. This is also the earliest map of America to note the Rio Spiritu Santo in Texas (R. Spt. San.), following Hernando de Soto's landmark voyage of exploration in the region (1539-43). The Gulf of St. Lawrence is beginning to take shape after Jacques Cartier's Voyage. Florida is also named, one of the earliest obtainable maps to name the region. Interesting early depiction of the Amazon River. The coastline of western Nova Spagna takes a very curious turn to the southwest.

Unlike the Spanish edition, which is broken into two parts, this map is printed as one continous map from the Southwestern US to the the coasts of Spain and Africa, etc. The map is extremely rare, with only this example appearing at auction in the past 30 years and only one example of the 1548 Spanish edition appearing at auction in 1999. No examples in dealer catalogues in the past 25 years.