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Moullart Sanson's Planisphere Urano-Geographique
This finely engraved and hand-colored celestial and terrestrial map presents a dual representation of the Earth and the celestial sphere. The map embodies the European Enlightenment’s fascination with astronomy, geography, and scientific visualization.
The engraving consists of a large outer sphere, representing the celestial sphere, and a smaller inner sphere, depicting the Earth centered within it. The outer sphere is divided into latitude and longitude lines, marking key astronomical and geographic references, while the ecliptic, tropics, and equator are distinctly labeled in red and yellow. The use of concentric circles reflects the concept of spherical projection, illustrating the relationship between Earth's geography and the celestial coordinates.
At the center of the composition, the terrestrial globe prominently features the American continent, labeled as Amérique Septentrionale (North America) and Amérique Méridionale (South America). The continents are drawn in a relatively simplified form, as the map was intended more as an astronomical reference rather than a strictly geographic one. The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the equator, and the Arctic and Antarctic circles are labeled, emphasizing the Earth's axial tilt and its impact on seasonal variations.
The outer celestial framework is inscribed with hour markers along the upper arc (Heures d'après midi), indicating a connection to timekeeping and the division of the celestial sphere into segments. The ecliptic, which traces the apparent path of the Sun through the sky, is distinctly marked, reflecting the heliocentric understanding of planetary motion. Concentric latitude lines include the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, the Tropics, and the Celestial Equator, which align with the Earth's own latitude zones.
This map is an excellent example of an 18th-century scientific diagram aimed at visualizing the interplay between Earth's geography and its position within the larger celestial system. It reflects contemporary advancements in cartography, astronomy, and mathematical geography, which were instrumental in improving navigation, timekeeping, and the understanding of planetary motion.
The popular misconception of California as an island can be found on European maps from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. From its first portrayal on a printed map by Diego Gutiérrez, in 1562, California was shown as part of North America by mapmakers, including Gerardus Mercator and Abraham Ortelius. In the 1620s, however, it began to appear as an island in several sources. While most of these show the equivalent of the modern state of California separated from the continent, others, like a manuscript chart by Joao Teixeira Albernaz I (ca. 1632) now in the collection of the National Library of Brasil shows the entire western half of North America as an island.
The myth of California as an island was most likely the result of the travel account of Sebastian Vizcaino, who had been sent north up the shore of California in 1602. A Carmelite friar, Fray Antonio de la Ascensión, accompanied him. Ascension described the land as an island and around 1620 sketched maps to that effect. Normally, this information would have been reviewed and locked in the Spanish repository, the Casa de la Contratación. However, the manuscript maps were intercepted in the Atlantic by the Dutch, who took them to Amsterdam where they began to circulate. Ascensión also published descriptions of the insular geography in Juan Torquemada’s Monarquia Indiana (1613) (with the island details curtailed somewhat) and in his own Relación breve of ca. 1620.
The first known maps to show California as an island were on the title pages of Antonio de Herrera’s Descripción de las Indias Occidentales (1622) and Jacob le Maire's Spieghel Der Australische Navigatie (1622). Two early examples of larger maps are those by Abraham Goos (1624) and another by Henry Briggs, which was included in Samuel Purchas’ Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas his Pilgrimes (1625). In addition to Briggs and Goos, prominent practitioners like Jan Jansson and Nicolas Sanson adopted the new island and the practice became commonplace. John Speed’s map (1626-7), based on Briggs’ work, is well known for being one of the first to depict an insular California.
The island of California became a fixture on mid- and late-seventeenth century maps. The island suggested possible links to the Northwest Passage, with rivers in the North American interior supposedly connecting to the sea between California and the mainland. Furthermore, Francis Drake had landed in northern California on his circumnavigation (1577-80) and an insular California suggested that Spanish power in the area could be questioned.
Not everyone was convinced, however. Father Eusebio Kino, after extensive travels in what is now California, Arizona, and northern Mexico concluded that the island was actually a peninsula and published a map refuting the claim (Paris, 1705). Another skeptic was Guillaume De L’Isle. In 1700, De L’Isle discussed “whether California is an Island or a part of the continent” with J. D. Cassini; the letter was published in 1715. After reviewing all the literature available to him in Paris, De L’Isle concluded that the evidence supporting an insular California was not trustworthy. He also cited more recent explorations by the Jesuits (including Kino) that disproved the island theory. Later, in his map of 1722 (Carte d’Amerique dressee pour l’usage du Roy), De L’Isle would abandon the island theory entirely.
Despite Kino’s and De L’Isle’s work, California as an island remained common on maps until the mid-eighteenth century. De L’Isle’s son-in-law, Philippe Buache, for example, remained an adherent of the island depiction for some time. Another believer was Herman Moll, who reported that California was unequivocally an island, for he had had sailors in his offices that claimed to have circumnavigated it. In the face of such skepticism, the King of Spain, Ferdinand VII, had to issue a decree in 1747 proclaiming California to be a peninsula connected to North America; the geographic chimera, no matter how appealing, was not to be suffered any longer, although a few final maps were printed with the lingering island.
![[California as an Island - First State!] Totius Americae Septentrionalis et Meridionalis Novissima Representatio . . .](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/91036.jpg)
