1596 America

This is a scarce, small-format map of America by Giovanni Antonio Magini, first issued in Venice in 1596 and later reprinted in closely related editions around the turn of the seventeenth century. This copper-engraved map was published in Magini’s geographic works, and condenses late sixteenth-century European knowledge of the Western Hemisphere. Although indebted to Ortelius and earlier Italian sources, Magini’s map is an independent synthesis, distinguished by its engraving style, lettering, and its careful integration of contemporary exploration reports. The geography presents a transitional moment in global cartography. California is shown as a peninsula, attached to the mainland well before the island myth gained currency. North America extends into an uncertain northern coastline, while Central America is tightly compressed. South America is more confidently rendered, with the Andes depicted as a continuous mountainous spine. At the southern extreme, Terra del Fuego is not treate