Americae Mappa generalis…

A magnificent overview of the New World in the mid-18th century, with tangible links to the Old.

This stunning copperplate engraved map captures nearly half of the globe and uses vibrant color, likely original, to distinguish the various political divisions in the Western Hemisphere on the eve of the French & Indian War. North America is divided among the British, French, and Spanish territories, with the last dominant across South America and in the Caribbean. The line of Pope Alexander VI’s Inter caetera is noted in the Atlantic, though the border of Portuguese Brazil reflects the Treaty of Tordesillas of the following year.

A variety of cartographic myths and geographic unknowns are presented within the image, quite literally from top to bottom. Possibilities for a Northwest Passage are tantalizingly shown in Hudson Bay, while the entire Pacific Northwest has been left blank. California is depicted accurately as a peninsula, but several spurious islands can be seen in the South Pacific. Geographic features like rivers and mountains are emphasized, giving them an exaggerated effect on the map.

Also of interest is the decision by the cartographer to include West Africa and Europe within the image, thus capturing all components of the ‘Triangle Trade’ that greatly influenced Western commerce from the 16th – 18th centuries. Broadly speaking, European goods were traded for slaves along the African coast, who were then forcibly brought by the millions to work on farms, plantations, and mines across North and South America. Commodities like sugar, tobacco, and cotton were then shipped back to Europe to complete the third leg of the ‘triangle.’

The commercial exchange is also reflected in the decorative cartouche, which shows two different European interpretations of indigenous inhabitants. One couple on the left, wearing little, is seen holding a shrunken head or idol and thus presumed to be savages. The individual opposite is thus at the ‘civilized’ end of the spectrum, with a parasol-wielding slave and pile of gold at his feet. The date and cartographer, 1746 and the Homann Heirs, respectively, can also be found within the text of the cartouche.