This map and Hondius/Le Clerc's map of 1589 (known only in the 1602 edition) have a curious and not fully understood relationship. The treatment of America shown here, and most notably the Pacific Northwest area, is reminiscent of Jodocus Hondius' portrayal of the continent. Although he never found the cities or the gold, the name stuck on maps of southwest North America, wandering from east to west. In 1539, Coronado wandered over what today is Arizona and New Mexico, eventually heading to what is now Kansas to find the supposedly rich city of Quivira. Quivira was common on maps of North America of the time and refers to the Seven Cities of Gold sought by the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in 1541. Tucked into the label for North America, Americae Septemtrionalior Pars, is another place name, Quivira. North America mushrooms in the north, stretching as far west as New Guinea, which is also of grandiose size. However, methods for measuring longitude were still uncertain in the late-sixteenth century, and Ortelius, dependent on information brought back by navigators, was working from a limited data set. Ortelius’ Pacific, while vast, shows a much-smaller body of water than the Pacific turned out to be. The text on the verso of this edition of the map is in English, one of only 300 copies printed in 1606. It was featured in Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas. Rare English Edition of The First Map of the Pacific Ocean from the First Modern Atlasįine example of the English Edition of Ortelius' “ Maris Pacifici”, the first stand-alone map of the Pacific ever printed.
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