Maps

I love antique maps, the graphic design, the pictorial elements, and the strangeness of these older versions of our familiar world. So I selected antique maps of America to convey the theme of my blog, an Englishwoman in America. They are examples of how Europeans first depicted what they thought of as the “New World.” Part of the Hondius map is the logo for my site.

These five maps are my favorites. In chronological order:

Sebastian Munster, German
Tabula nouarum insularum, quas diuersis respectibus Occidentales & Indianas uocant
1561

Joducus Hondius (Joost de Hondt) the Elder, Flemish
Virginiae Item et Floridae Americae Provinciarum, nova Descriptio
1606

Willem Blaeu, Dutch
Novi Belgica et Anglia
1635
The strangeness of this map is explained by the fact that north is to the right.

Nicolaes Visscher, Dutch
Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ nec non partis Virginiæ tabula
1656

Heinrich Scherer, German
Americae Borealis Cuius Provinciae Vera Fide Illuminateae
1703
Scherer was a Jesuit priest who included religious images in his maps. The group of people at the lower left are Jesuit missionaries.