Americque septentrionale

Attribution:

Nicolas Sanson

Date:

1657

Description:

Nicolas Sanson’s landmark map of North America was the primary source of cartographic information for the Great Lakes region, an important area controlled by the French. In this map, however, Sanson relied on false accounts that depicted California as an island. Moreover, the Río Grande (known in Spanish as the Río del Norte) is shown flowing westward from a lake, possibly the Great Salt Lake, and emptying into the Mer Vermeio—the Red Sea, as the Gulf of California was known at the time.

Bib. Reference:

L’Europe [l’Asie, l’Afrique, l’Amerique] en plusieurs cartes (Paris: Chez l’Autheur)

Bancroft call number:

G114.S22

Digital image courtesy of:

David Rumsey Map Collection