Interesting and uncommon small map of the Americas showing a Northwest Passage based on the infamous expedition by Admiral Bartholomew de Fonte, and a massive Sea of the West. In 1708, a newly discovered account of the Spanish Admiral's 1640 discovery of the passage was published. That account was actually a journalistic hoax, but thereafter the account was changed and elaborated upon by numerous mapmakers. This map shows an amorphous passage through North America from Baffin Bay to exit at roughly Alaska. The large fictional lakes from De Fonte's account include Velasco, De Fonte, Bernarda and the strange archipelago of St. Lazare. The British colonies of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia extend to the Mississippi River. In South America, the fictional lake Xarayes is shown at the headwaters of the La Plata River.

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Condition: B

A sharp engraving on a sheet with a professionally repaired 2.25" tear into the right side of the map.