Image: Sanson Amerique Septentrionale 1650 UTA

Description: Sanson's landmark 1650 map of North America includes interesting details relating to chartered company operations in the northern and eastern part of the continent as well as the Caribbean. Employing a sinusoidal projection, its construction demonstrates considerable scientific acumen. Much of the Great Lakes system now appears, with Lakes Superior and Ontario named for the first time. Sanson's sources must have included the annual reports of the Jesuits which included eyewitness accounts of their missionary activities and explorations in association with the chartered fur companies. These augmented the earlier explorations of Champlain. There is also "Mon Royal", or Montreal, laid out as a trading site by Champlain in 1611. "N[ouvelle]. Anglet[erre]" refers to New England, while "Nouvelle Amsterdam" and "Nouvelle Hollandia" on the east coast allude to activities there of the New Netherland Company (beginning in 1614) and the Dutch WIC (beginning in 1625). There is even "N[ouvelle]. Suede" relating to the new settlements in the Delaware Valley of the New Sweden Company chartered by the Swedish government in 1638.
Title: Amerique Septentrionale
Credit: UTA Libraries Cartographic Connections: map / text
Author: Nicolas Sanson
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No