Subject: Panama
Period: 1622 (published)
Publication: Description des Indes Occidentales
Color: Black & White
Size:
11.5 x 8.4 inches
29.2 x 21.3 cm
Antonio de Herrera Y Tordelisllas was the official historian to the King of Spain. He compiled a history of the Spanish conquests in the Americas that included this map of the Audiencia of Panama. His work (Historia general de los hechos de los Castellanos) was originally published in 1601 with several editions and translations thereafter, all of which are scarce. This simple outline map shows the strategically important Isthmus of Panama, across which Inca treasure was carried from the city of Panama to the fortress at Nombre de Dios. The lack of detail is in keeping with the official policy of protecting Spanish knowledge in the New World.
References: Kapp (MCC-73) #4; Shirley (BL Atlases) G.HERR-2a #9.
Condition: B+
A dark impression with very wide margins, light printer's ink residue, a printer's crease adjacent to centerfold, and one spot of foxing along the centerfold.