La Florida; Guastecan; Peruviae auiferae regionis typus

One of the few 16th century maps of America to directly incorporate Spanish sources.

This interesting composite sheet presents three different regions that were vital to Spain’s overseas empire in the Americas. The crown was understandably protective of geographic information related to its territory, a tremendous source of wealth, but the cartographer, Abraham Ortelius, had access to Spanish sources unavailable to other European mapmakers.

Florida, in the upper right, represents a huge area encompassing nearly all of the American southeast from the Gulf Coast to the Carolinas and is one of the first printed depictions of the explorations of the explorer Hernando de Soto. Immediately below, the Guastecan (La Huasteca) region continues the image south of the Rio de las Palmas into modern-day central Mexico.

The image on the left side captures the Viceroyalty of Peru, arguably the most important region in New Spain during the 16th century. Silver from the mines of El Cerro de Potosi (seen near the bottom) was transported along the coast to Panama, where it was then hauled overland to Nombre de Dios on the Atlantic. Treasure galleons would then traverse the Straits of Florida, west of the Bahamas, on their return voyage to Spain.

The map was published as part of Abraham Ortelius’ Additamentum III, first issued in 1584 containing replacement or updated maps for his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. This particular example, with French text on the verso, dates to 1598.

Sources: Cumming plate 9, Burden 55, Goss Map 13, Schwarz and Ehrenberg plate 35, YouTube Video by Tom Touchton