1597 Cornelis Wytfliet Early Antique Map of Florida, Louisiana, North America

Cartographer :Cornelis van Wytfliet

Description:
A fine original antique, and incredibly important map of the southern United States, one of only 3 maps printed prior to 1600, to depict this area with any accuracy, was published by Cornelis van Wytfliet in the 1597 edition of Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum. Wytfliet copied information from the Abraham Ortelius 1584 map Geronimo de Chaves map entitled La Florida, augmented with written accounts of Hernando de Soto inland expedition of 1539-42. Wytfliet also expands the area covered south to include parts of Cuba and north to C. de Arenas or the area of the Outer Banks of Carolina. It also enabled him to include the territory called Apalache. As such it is one of the few maps of the sixteenth century to record inland information largely from first hand European sources. Along with the Ortelius map of 1584, and the Johannes Metellus of 1598, these are the only printed maps of the present day southern United States published in the sixteenth century. The Florida peninsula is altered in shape from the Ortelius in that it is more rectangular and has a pronounced neck. The source for this delineation appears to be unknown. The Rio del Spirito Santo shown here is the Mississippi River. 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.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 15in x 12in (380mm x 305mm)
Plate size: - 11 1/4in x 9 1/4in (285mm x 235mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Small professional repair to top border
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
In 1597 Cornelis van Wytfliet published his Augmentum to Ptolemys Geography. Dedicated to Philip III of Spain it is a history of the New World to date, recording its discovery, natural history etc. For the book Wytfliet had engraved nineteen maps, by whom we do not know, one of the world and eighteen regional maps of the Americas. As such this book can be truly called the first atlas of the New World, America.

Wytfliet, Cornelis van d. 1597
Cornelius Wytfliet or Cornelis van Wytfliet was a geographer from Leuven in the Habsburg Netherlands, best known for producing the first atlas of the Americas.
Cornelius was the son of Catherine Huybrechts and her husband, Gregorius Wytfliet, who was advocate fiscal of Leuven University from 1557 to 1594. After graduating Licentiate in Laws from the University of Leuven, Wytfliet moved to Brussels and became secretary to the Council of Brabant. He died in or shortly after 1597, when his Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum (a work adding new discoveries to Ptolemy\\\'s description of the world) was published

$3,750.00