New World Gallery

Map of the world, 1720

(Original Caption) 18th century map of the world. Published in Paris in 1720, this French map shows the known world, including the new lands that had been discovered in the preceding centuries by Europeans exploring across the Atlantic and far to the East around Africa. It divides the Earth into a western and eastern hemisphere, and uses colour to mark different areas of land. The map is by Guillaume de l'Isle (1675-1726), the leading French cartographer of the eighteenth century. He was appointed Premier Geographe du Roi to King Louis XV in 1718. This edition of his world map includes the western and northern coastlines of Australia, mapped by the Dutch. Australia's eastern coastline would not be mapped until 1770

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Map of the Americas, 1660

17th century map of the Americas. Published in Amsterdam in 1660, this map by the Dutch cartographer Frederick de Witt (1630-1706) shows the geography of the Americas, the New World being explored by Europeans. The exploration of South America was well advanced by this stage, but large swathes of North America had yet to be mapped. The artworks across top show various cities, from left to right: Cusco (Peru); Tenochtitlan (labelled Mexico, now Mexico City); Olinda (Brazil); Havana (Cuba); San Domingo (Hispaniola); and Cartagena (Colombia). The artworks at left and right show natives of Virginia (north-eastern North America), Chile and Brazil, and the Magellanic people of Patagonia

© LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

17th century map of South America

South America, 17th century Dutch map. This shows the new continent that was being discovered by European explorers. The shape is distorted because it had not yet been accurately mapped. Two large rivers in Brazil are shown flowing from a large lake in eastern Brazil. The western coastline is by now fairly accurately mapped, but it was still not realised that Tierra del Fuego (bottom centre) in the Straits of Magellan, was a group of islands and not part of a large southern continent. The inset at lower left shows the Incan city of Cuzco in Peru. This map, published around 1630 by Jodocus Hondius, continued the earlier work of Gerard Mercator

© GEORGETTE DOUWMA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY