• Title : Regni Mexicani seu Novae Hispaniae Ludovicianae, N. Angliae, Carolinae, Virginiae, et Pensylvaniae nec non Insularum Archipelagi Mexicani in America Septentrionali accurata Tabula...Joh. Baptista Homano
• Ref #:  93464
• Size: 25in x 21 1/2in (635mm x 545mm)
• Date : 1712
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:

This large, original beautifully hand coloured, copper plate engraved antique 1st edition map of North & Central America and The Caribbean was published by Johann Baptiste Homann in 1712.

This is a magnificent map, with all the political nuisances of early 18th century Europe played out on on a map of The New World.
The tension between the three European superpowers of the time, France, Spain & England, is evident from the diminishing power of the Spanish, to the aspirational power of the French and British. The French borders in Louisiana and Canada push west and south far beyond reality, encroaching into New Mexico, Canada & the British colonial states. Large Spanish warships are seen to overpower both the British & French fleets in the bottom left naval battle.
With the death of Queen Anne in 1714 and the ascension of George I to the British throne, the era of British power in the New World will lead to the inevitable hard fought freedom of a new country, the United States. A great early 18th century map.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 25in x 21 1/2in (635mm x 545mm)
Plate size: - 23in x 19 1/2in (590mm x 500mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Old ink notations top L & R corners not affecting image
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
J B Homanns 1715 map of North & Central America from The Great Lakes to Mexico, The Caribbean to Panama was based on the earlier 1703 map of the same region by Claude Delisle, Carte du Mexique et de la Florida des Terres Angloises, who derived his information from the likes of La Salle, Bienville, d Iberville, Le Sueur and other French, British & Spanish explorers.
The map centres on Louisiana and the Mississippi River Valley, with detailed information of Mexico to the Pacific, north to New Mexico and the Great Lakes. East to the Colonial states, French Florida, The West Indies and northern South America.
Louisiana is divided as per the French borders in Delisles map, with large French aspirations extending well into Spanish North America from the Rio Grande to the Appalachian Mountains. France also lays claim to large sways of land in Canada and the whole of the Great Lakes and much of the northern colonial states of the time. One of the earliest maps to accurately portray the mouth of the Mississippi and the Great Lakes region.
An elaborately decorative map with illustrations of Spanish unloading gold while the native Americans look on. To the lower left is shown a large Spanish Galleon, with guns blazing on the smaller French or British fleet, highlighting the still evident power of the Spanish. A very political European view of the new world in the early 18th century.