A Dutch edition of Herrera y Tordesillas's map of the West Indies

HERRERA Y TORDESILLAS, Antonio de.

Description del Destricto del Audiencia dela Espanola.
Amsterdam: Michiel Colijn, 1622. 215 x 290mm,

A Dutch copy of one of the few Spanish maps of the Americas printed during the period of exploration, from an updateded edition of Herrera's 'Descriptio Indiæ Occidentalis', first published in 1601. It shows Florida, the Bahamas and the West Indies south to Venezuela, with keys of places on the islands.
After a century of official silence on Spanish exploring, Philip II appointed Herrera y Tordesillas Historian of the Indies and allowed him full access to the official archives. The result was a comprehensive study of Spanish involvement in the New World. The 14 maps, regarded as very accurate for their time, were derived from the manuscript charts of Juan López de Velasco and are some of the very few printed Spanish maps of America. Although this Dutch edition was updated, the only differences to the map are a wider plate and the title is bottom right rather than top right.

BURDEN: 198.
Stock ID : 17448