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1597 Cornelis van Wytfliet
$ 3,200.00
Description

One of the Earliest Maps To Record Inland Information in the Southeast From First Hand European Accounts

Highly important map of the Southeast and Gulf Coast of North America, from the Rio Escondido, from Cornelis Wytfliet's Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum, the first atlas to focus on the mapping of the New World.

Wyfliet's map is one of the earliest to focus on the Southeast and to name "Florida". It is the second earliest regional map (after the smaller map by Ortelius) to focus on the region.

The map is drawn from Geronimo de Chaves' map, which was copied by Ortelius in 1584. Wytfliet expands the coverage to include more of the Gulf Coast, as well as extending the map north to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and south to Cuba. The inland details are derived from the reports of Hernando de Soto, during his explorations of 1539-42, making it one of the few 16th Century maps of North America to include significant inland detail from first hand European Accounts.

As noted by Burden:

The Florida Peninsula is altered in shape from Ortelius, in that it is more rectangular and has a pronounced 'neck.' The source of this delineation appears to be unknown. The Rio del Spirito Santo shown here is the Mississippi River.

The map is known in only one state, but was also copied by Metellus in 1598.

To view a short video on this map by map collector Tom Touchton, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmCoYxYLbEs

Reference
Burden 104.
Cornelis van Wytfliet Biography

Cornelius de Wytfliet (ca.1550-ca. 1597) was a Flemish cartographer most famous for his Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum. The work was published in Louvain, Belgium, and had nineteen maps of the Americas.