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Map Map of the Atlantic Ocean, 1601.

About this Item

Title

  • Map of the Atlantic Ocean, 1601.

Summary

  • This portolan map of the Atlantic Ocean, made by Guillaume Levasseur in 1601, reflects the high level of accuracy achieved by French mapmakers of the Norman school of hydrographers, who by this time had been charting the Atlantic for well over a century. The map is also a rich store of historic place-names. For Canada, it provides 28 place-names extracted from the writings of Jacques Cartier, seven of which were original. "Quebec," for example, makes its appearance here for the first time. The northeastern part of North America is labeled as New France and shown with the French coat of arms, even though the first permanent French settlements were not established until several years later (Quebec City in 1608). The map shows the coasts of Europe from Hamburg to Cape Matapan; of Africa from Cyrene to the Cape of Good Hope; and the Atlantic coasts of the Americas from Labrador to the Rio de la Plata and the Pacific coasts from Nicaragua to Conceptión. A ship's pilot, Levasseur is known as the most learned of the Norman hydrographers. He wrote two treatises on hydrography as well as works on mathematical sines and fortifications. Other than a world map that appears in one of his treatises, this is his sole surviving cartographic work.

Names

  • Levasseur, Guillaume, died 1643 Cartographer.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1601.

Headings

  • -  1601
  • -  Atlantic Ocean
  • -  Cartier, Jacques, 1491-1557
  • -  Manuscript maps
  • -  Nautical charts
  • -  Portolan charts

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 map : manuscript, illuminated on vellum ; 74.5 x 99 centimeters.
  • -  Reference extracted from World Digital Library: Sarah Toulouse, "Marine Cartography and Navigation in Renaissance France," in David Woodward, editor, The History of Cartography, vol. 3, Cartography in the European Renaissance (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007).
  • -  Original resource at: National Library of France.
  • -  Content in French.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021668640

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Levasseur, Guillaume, Died 1643 Cartographer. Map of the Atlantic Ocean. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1601] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668640/.

APA citation style:

Levasseur, G. (1601) Map of the Atlantic Ocean. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668640/.

MLA citation style:

Levasseur, Guillaume, Died 1643 Cartographer. Map of the Atlantic Ocean. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1601] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021668640/>.