Florida et Apalche. [Facsimile 16th Century Map of Florida].

[VAN WYTFLIET, Cornelius].

$400.00

Item Number: 138762

[Louvain, Belgium]: Cornelius de Wytfliet, [1597].

Facsimile reproduction of the original Flemish 1597 Cornelius van Wytfliet map, one of only three maps printed prior to 1600 to depict the area with any accuracy and one of the earliest maps to refer to the region as Florida. One page, the map is based on Geronimo de Chaves’ map, which was copied by Ortelius in 1584, and Hernando de Soto’s explorations of 1539-1542. “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” (Burden). Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 21 inches by 19 inches.

Cornelius van Wytfliet was a geographer from Leuven in the Habsburg Netherlands, best known for producing the first atlas of the Americas. In 1597 Cornelis van Wytfliet published his Augmentum to Ptolemy's 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: one of the world and eighteen regional maps of the Americas. It is generally regarded as the first atlas of the New World, America.