This rare map was designed to illustrate the travels of Lionel Wafer, a Welsh explorer and privateer. While serving as a ship's surgeon, Wafer joined a voyage to Panama, where he was marooned for several months in 1680. He studied the history, language and culture of the Cuna Indians in the Isthmus of Darien. Upon returning to England, Wafer published an account of his adventures in A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America in 1695, which was translated into French in 1706.

The map covers the Southern United States and the Gulf of Mexico through Central America. It extends to show the southern tip of Baja California, with the Gulf of California labeled Mer ou Golfe de Californie, leaving ambiguity as to whether California is an island or not. This is an early map to show the correct location of the Mississippi River delta gleaned from the expeditions of La Salle and Iberville. There is little detail north of Mexico, with the exception of several rivers and the cities of Santa Fe, St. Augustine, and S. Matthew (near Jacksonville, Florida).

References: Sabin #100944.

Condition: A

Issued folding on watermarked paper with minor printer's ink residue. A binding trim at right has been replaced with period-correct paper, with a small amount of the neatline replaced in facsimile.