John Overton, "A new and most Exact map ofAmerica . .. "; London, 1668. This colorful, busy map is among
the earliest maps ofthe Americas in English, although it borrows heavily ftom Dutch maps. At the top and bottom borders are to be found explorers'portraits-Columbus, Vespucci, Noort, Candish, Magellan, and Drake-representations of native peoples-Virginians, Magellanics and Brasilians-and mini-maps of important sites-Havana, Mexico City, Cusco, Pomeiooc, Carolina, Siacobsi, Potosus, Phernambuco and Santo Domingo. These iconic cities appear over and over on maps ofthe New World. The map itselfis covered with place names, and in the New York area, New Netherland is named. This is surprising on an English map, as New Amsterdam had been taken ftom the Dutch by the English and renamed New York in 1664. This may reflect careless reliance on an earlier Dutch map as a model.
Joannes de Ram, "LondiniAngliae . . . ";Amsterdam, 1690. London was the center ofeconomic and political
activity in England, supporting many producers ofnautical wares: charts, atlases, sailing instructions, compasses and so forth. This Dutch map celebrates England's "Glorious Revolution, " when the crown passed ftom James JI, via Parliament, who feared his Catholic sympathies, to a joint sovereignty accepted in 1689 by William of Orange, Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and his wife, James' sister Mary. The ascendancy of William III and Mary II assured the Protestant nature of the English crown and allied Holland and England against the Catholic Louis XIV's grand designs in Europe. Perhaps those are oranges garlanding the royal couple and the view of London below. Oranges were noted in Europe in the 15OOs and 1600s for their decorative and aromatic value and were symbolic oflove. Putti happily crown the Stuart royal coat ofarms (not yet decorated with a shield carrying the arms ofNassau) as the London coat ofarms is carried forward in celebration. SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99
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