Nicolas De Fer (French, 1646 to 1720) / Charles Inselin (French, 1673 to 1715), printed in the 19th century CE, first created in 1700 CE. A fun pair of black prints on laid paper; a map of the "Island of California" and a page describing the history of the island. The "Island of California" refers to the European misconception that California was a large island separated from the continent via a strait, which we now recognize as the Gulf of California. The map shows an insular California next to Mexico, also incorrectly placing the mouth of the Mississippi River on the east coast of Mexico, along with a detailed key of places and an inscription which states that the map was drawn by Nicolas de Fer, official Geographe de Monseigneur le Dauphin, based on documents sent to the Monsieur Regis at the Paris Academie Royale des Sciences, engraved by Charles Inselin, and printed with the privilege of the King (the equivalent of early modern copyright). The accompanying page details the discovery of California and the subsequent Spanish explorations of the area. Size (both the same): 14.125" W x 9.875" H (35.9 cm x 25.1 cm)

The myth of an insular California can be traced back to a 1510 romance novel by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo, which states, "Know that on the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise." Though the legend of California Island had been disproven by De Fer's map, the Spanish had continued to promote the idea of a separate land of California in order to counter English claims on the western coast of North America made by Sir Francis Drake's declaration of New Albion. While scientific cartographers were keenly aware of this fact, De Fer was famously more interested in political planning by synthesizing earlier works than documenting geographical accuracies.

Provenance: private California, USA collection

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#160185

Watermark of indistinguishable form on left side of manuscript page. Both have numbers written in pencil in corner. Light staining to both. Otherwise, intact and excellent with remarkable remaining pigment.