America Septentrionalis

An important and influential Dutch map of America from the 17th century.

This is a fascinating geographic overview of North America from the early 1640s that “illustrates well the current state of knowledge” (Burden). The depiction of California as an Island is immediately apparent. This myth originated from Spanish sources in the 16th century and was perpetuated by European cartographers for over 150 years. Dozens of maps show the misunderstanding, but this was one of the most widely disseminated and influential in perpetuating the error.

Elsewhere, the image reflects contemporary notions of territorial boundaries, the scope of geographic features, and native fauna. The extent of the Great Lakes is notable, showing only one named as Lake Iroquois. A wide variety of other places are labeled, including Native American villages, European towns, religious institutions, and legendary locales (i.e. the Lake of Gold). New Belgium, New England, and New Spain are among the named regions, reflecting over a century of contested emigration. Toponyms are concentrated heavily along the coastline, with much of the continental interior either completely blank or occupied by vignettes or blocks of descriptive text. The decorative title cartouche in the upper left helps to obfuscate ignorance of the area north of California.

The map was one of very few of the era to focus specifically on the continent of North America, as opposed to the entire Western Hemisphere. It was originally designed by Henricus Hondius and published in Amsterdam in 1636. This is the second state, as indicated by the updated cartouche in the lower left that identifies the cartographer as Jan Janssonius. German text on the verso shows it to be from the 1641 – 1647 edition of Jansson’s Newer Atlas.

Sources: Burden 245; Karpinski 89; Goss 30; McLaughlin 6; Wheat 45,