Sign In

- Or use -
Forgot Password Create Account
This item has been sold, but you can enter your email address to be notified if another example becomes available.
Description

Nice example of the third French edition of Kino's seminal map of California, which definitively ended the myth of California as an Island.

Kino was a Jesuit Missionary, who surmised that California was not an island long before his trip to Mexico. When he arrived, he initially transmitted information back to Europe, which found its way into Scherer's maps and De Fer's Cette Carte . . ., one of the last interesting large format maps showing California as an island. After obtaining permission to travel up the Gulf of California and explore the region, Kino was able to establish his theory that California was not an island.

The first French edition of the map was printed in one of the volumes of the Jesuit reports Lettres Edifantes, and includes the name Inseln, as the engraver, in the lower left corner. Kino's map was reissued in a number of languages thereafter, and is a cartographic milestone in the mapping of California, although a number of Europe's major Atlas publishers, ignored the results of Kino's explorations for several decades and continued to show California as an island.

The second edition of the map was issued at about the same time as the Jesuits were being expelled from Mexico in 1767.

A fine example of this seminal work, and essential map for California Collectors.

Reference
Leighly 40-42; Wheat 89; Schwartz & Ehrenberg plate 75; Cumming plate 379; Lowery 250.