Map of the Caribbean Islands and Florida - Theodore de Bry

The map of the Caribbean islands and the American state of Florida by Theodore de Bry was engraved in Frankfurt in 1594, as part of his famous travel collections dedicated to the discovery of America. Largely based on the account of the traveler Girolamo Benzoni, it features oversized Caribbean islands and Florida derived from Jacques Le Moyne's cartography, with greatly distorted but already recognizable coastlines. The Bahamas are placed too far north, while cartouches and legends recall Columbus's voyages and introduce an early mention of the Gulf Stream, reflecting the European gaze on Spanish and French colonial spaces. The map combines scientific ambition, propaganda, and the geographical imagination of the early modern age.

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