Map of California shown as an island

Image file

Map showing California as an island

Caption

Library of Congress, The Atlantic World: America and the Netherlands.

Catalog notes

California floats apart from the mainland in this delicate manuscript map, a vivid reminder that beautifully drawn geography can still be wrong. Red and black place names accompany pen-and-ink and watercolor work, giving the image both decorative appeal and documentary value. The story is not that earlier mapmakers were foolish, but that uncertain information could become a persuasive cartographic convention. It is an excellent starting point for discussing how maps inherit and eventually correct errors.

Original catalog record, source and attribution