APPENDIX III
THE MAPS OF YUCATAN, 1501-1800
WHILE I was at work on the main body of this book my attention was drawn to the question of cartography by Dr. Edward Luther Stevenson of New York. I decided that it would be worth while to try and compile a list of all the early maps of Yucatan. It would be folly for me to claim that the list I give here is complete; it is, however, at least as complete as any such list now existing. No attempt has been made to list all the modern maps of the area; neither has there been any attempt to include maps of limited portions of the peninsula. A selection from the immense amount of material given by Pedro Torres Lanzas has, however, been made, and the notes made by Dr. Tozzer in Seville are appended.
THE MAPS OF YUCATAN ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
1502 ? PORTUGUESE.
- Valentini (1898, 1902) refers to this map as being dated either in 1493 or 1502. There is little doubt that this map is misdated for the following reasons:
- 1. The information contained in the map is so full that it cannot have been earlier than 1520.
- 2. The nomenclature is mainly “sailor names” and therefore inconclusive.
- 3. The alleged Yucatan runs from its nearest point to Cuba northwardly, not southwardly. It is my belief that the peninsula in question is meant for Florida, and that it is too far west.
- 4. The whole style of the map is comparable to that of the following well-known ones: Turin-Spanish, 1523-25; Wolfenbüttel-Spanish, 1525-30; Maggiolo, 1527; Verrazano, 1529; Weimar-Spanish, 1527. It is far more full and accurate than Maggiolo, 1519. Therefore it cannot date from before 1520, and probably not from before 1525.
ca. 1501-02 RICHARD KING PORTOLAN (Hamy Coll.).
- Has Cuba and other West Indies, also eastern portions of South America, neither Mexico nor Yucatan.
1502-04 CANTINO (Stevenson, 1903).
- Has Cuba, etc. No Mexico and Yucatan.
