Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, who was the official historian of Castile and the Indies compiled a history of the Spanish conquests and early explorations in the Americas, that included this simple, but elegantly engraved map of the Americas and the Pacific extending to the Spanish interests in the Philippines. Korea is shown as an island and is named here Cory, North America is truncated with a peninsular California and the Sierra Nevadas comprise the northern coast. South America is separated from the partial coastline of the unknown southern continent by the Strait of Magellan. The map is largely derived from the manuscript charts of Juan Lopez de Velasco. The lines of Spanish-Portuguese demarcation are shown, dividing the non-Christian world into spheres of influence. Being Spanish in origin, this map places the Philippines and Moluccas too far east, thus into the Spanish region. Relief shown pictorially. "Entre las dos meridianos senala dos secontiene la navegacion y descubrimeinto que compete alos Castellanos." in cartouche. Includes a diagram of climatic zones in the lower left. Original map by Herrera y Tordesillas in 1601. Appears in Torquemada's Historia general Descripcion de las Indias Occidentalis. Madrid : Nicolas Rodriquez Franco, 1726. In Spanish.
Image from the Glen McLaughlin Map Collection of California as an Island courtesy Stanford University Libraries. This item is in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use. If you have questions, please contact the David Rumsey Map Center at rumseymapcenter@stanford.edu.
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