Pictorial Map of Legendary Aztec Pilgrimage, Supposedly Based on Ancient Sources

"The Copy of a Antient Picture Kept by D. Carlos Siguenza in Which Is Drawn & Describ'd the Road the Antient Mexicans Travell'd When They Came from the Mountains to Inhabit the Lake...", Gemelli Careri, John Frances

This stunning map blends cartography and myth as it traces the legendary Aztec pilgrimage route from their ancestral home in Aztlan to Chapultepec (present-day Mexico City). The journey is illustrated with "hieroglyphicks" that reflect Aztec myth and spiritual belief. Aztlan is said to be "A place of Megpies where the Mexicans were call'd Aztlanechi" and is shown as an island in a lake, with a tree and a large bird perched on top. Chapultepec is "The Hill of Grasshoppers," depicted literally as a hill mounted by a giant grasshopper; below are kneeling figures and a scattering of dismembered limbs. It was published in the English translation of Gemelli Careri's six-volume Giro Del Mondo (1699) and appears to be the first printed map to show the migration to Chapultepec. Gemelli Careri cites as his source Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora, the so-called "Mexican da Vinci," a polymath and patriot for New Spain who was fascinated by ancient Mexican cultures. Siguenza shared this knowledge with Gemelli Careri and took him to visit the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan. Alexander von Humboldt, who was greatly interested in indigenous Mexican cartography, cited Gemelli Careri as a source and likely referred to this map during the creation of his landmark 1811 map of New Spain.

Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri (1651-1725) was an Italian adventurer and traveler. Frustrated with his law career, he set out in 1693 to travel around the world, financing his way by purchasing goods at each stage and selling them along the way. He wrote of his travels in the six-volume Giro Del Mondo (1699); the English translation was published as the fourth volume in Awnsham and John Churchill's A Collection of Voyages & Travels.

References: Shirley (BL Atlases) G.CHUR-1a #43.

Condition: A

A crisp impression on a bright sheet with faint offsetting, minor extraneous creasing around the centerfold, and archivally repaired centerfold separations at top and bottom.