8 results
Map of Lesser Antilles
Joan Vinckeboons (1617–70) was a Dutch cartographer and engraver born into a family of artists of Flemish origin. He was employed by the Dutch West India Company and for more than 30 years produced maps for use by Dutch mercantile and military shipping. He was a business partner of Joan Blaeu, one of the most important map and atlas publishers of the day. Vinckeboons drew a series of 200 manuscript maps that were used in the production of atlases, including Blaeu’s Atlas Maior. This pen-and-ink and watercolor map ...
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Library of Congress
The Islands and Mainland of the West Indies
Joan Vinckeboons (1617–70) was a Dutch cartographer and engraver born into a family of artists of Flemish origin. He was employed by the Dutch West India Company and for more than 30 years produced maps for use by Dutch mercantile and military shipping. He was a business partner of Joan Blaeu, one of the most important map and atlas publishers of the day. Vinckeboons drew a series of 200 manuscript maps that were used in the production of atlases, including Blaeu’s Atlas Maior. This pen-and-ink and watercolor map ...
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Library of Congress
New Physical, Political, Industrial and Commercial Map of Central America and the Antilles: With a Special Map of the Possessions of the Belgian Colonization Company of Central America, the State of Guatemala
Unlike Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark, Belgium never had colonial possessions in the Americas. It entertained, nonetheless, certain colonial ambitions, as reflected in this map. Following the breakup of the United Provinces of Central America in the civil war of 1838-40, the caudíllo Rafael Carrera rose to power in Guatemala. Belgium became an important source of external support to the new regime as it struggled to consolidate itself as an independent state. The Compagnie belge de colonisation (Belgian Colonization Company), commissioned by Belgian King Leopold I, became the ...
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Library of Congress
A General Chart of the West Indies: With Additions from the Latest Navigators
Captain Joseph Smith Speer was an English mariner who served 21 years on the Mosquito (Miskito) Coast in what is now Nicaragua. He later created detailed maps of the West Indies based on his first-hand knowledge of the region. In 1766 he published The West-India Pilot containing 13 maps, followed by an enlarged edition with 26 maps in 1771. A General Chart of the West Indies, shown here, is a large, detailed map (71 by 117 centimeters). It is based on an earlier map from 1774, “with Additions from the ...
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Library of Congress
The West-India Pilot, Containing Piloting Directions for Port Royal Harbour in Jamaica, in and out through the Kays ...
Captain Joseph Smith Speer was an English mariner who spent many years in Central America and the Caribbean. He created detailed maps and guides based on his personal experiences. In 1766, he published The West-India Pilot, containing 13 maps and detailed navigational instructions for passage between Caribbean ports. An expanded edition with 26 maps appeared in 1771. Speer’s instructions to mariners were practical and straightforward. They pointed out hazards to be avoided, such as rocks and shallow waters, and advised captains on how to sail and anchor along the ...
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Library of Congress
About the Natural History of the Indies
Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo (1478–1557) was one of the most important early chroniclers of the Spanish presence in the Americas. Born in Madrid of noble parents from Asturias, at age 12 he became a page to the Duke of Villahermosa. He witnessed the surrender of Granada and, in 1492, entered the service of Prince Don Juan I, whose death in 1497 changed the path of his life. After living several years in Italy, Oviedo returned to Spain around 1505 and, from then onward, began traveling between the Iberian Peninsula ...
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National Library of Spain
An Account of a Selection of Plants of America
The first world-renowned natural scientist to set foot on Colombian soil was the Dutch physician and botanist Baron Nikolaus Joseph Jacquin (1727–1817). As a young man he showed such ability in his studies in Vienna that he attracted royal patronage. Emperor Francis I commissioned him to travel to the Americas for the purpose of collecting rare and exotic plants for the imperial parks of Vienna and Schönbrunn Palace. This tour occupied him from 1755 to 1759. Jacquin was the first person to show the world the botanical treasures of ...
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National Library of Colombia
An Account of a Selection of Plants of America
The first world-renowned natural scientist to set foot on Colombian soil was the Dutch physician and botanist Baron Nikolaus Joseph Jacquin (1727–1817). As a young man he showed such ability in his studies in Vienna that he attracted royal patronage. Emperor Francis I commissioned him to travel to the Americas for the purpose of collecting rare and exotic plants for the imperial parks of Vienna and Schönbrunn Palace. This tour occupied him from 1755 to 1759. Jacquin was the first person to show the world the botanical treasures of ...
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National Library of Colombia