Catalog Archive
Auction 103, Lot 91

"La Nuova Francia", Gastaldi/Ramusio

Subject: Colonial New England & Canada

Period: 1565 (published)

Publication: Terzo Volume delle Navigationi et Viaggi

Color: Black & White

Size:
14.5 x 10.5 inches
36.8 x 26.7 cm
Download High Resolution Image
(or just click on image to launch the Zoom viewer)

This unusual map is the first map to focus on the area of New England and New France. This example is the second state of this map; the first woodblock had been destroyed by a fire a year after it was made in 1556. Derived from the Gastaldi's 1548 regional map, the cartography is based largely on Verrazzano and Cartier's reports resulting in a curious depiction of the Hudson and St. Lawrence rivers. Newfoundland is identified as Terra Nuova, below the large Isola De Demoni, appropriately decorated with demons. The area near New York Harbor is titled Angoulesme. Long Island, which Verrazzano imagined a peninsula, is labeled Flora. Newport Bay is called Port Real and Narragansett Bay is Port du Refuge. A long, snake-like band that has also been speculated to be an early representation of the Gulf Stream marks the rich fishing banks. The map is populated with scenes of Native Americans hunting and fishing, elaborately engraved ships and fanciful sea monsters.

References: McCorkle #556.1; Burden #25, Kershaw, #15a; Augustyn & Cohen pp. 18-19.

Condition: C

Old repairs of centerfold with slight loss and facsimile, otherwise good with a nice impression.

Estimate: $1,500 - $1,800

Sold for: $1,700

Closed on 6/11/2003

Archived