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Source Description
Appearing in a French school atlas published at the beginning of the 19th century, this map demonstrates the close proximity of Cuba to Florida (separated only by the 110-mile wide Florida Strait) and the Bahama Islands. The latter are identified here as the Lucayas, thus named for the native inhabitants first encountered by Christopher Columbus. His initial landfall is noted on this map as Chat (Cat) or Guanahani Island, although nearby is Watling (San Salvador) Island, which is generally accepted today as Columbus' original landfall. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Bahamas provided a haven for British privateers who harassed the Spanish fleets leaving Havana and sailing north along the Florida coast. This map was apparently prepared for an international audience, since it includes both French and Spanish scale measurements and two longitude designations, one based on the Paris Meridian (at the bottom ) and the Spanish preference of the Ferro Meridian in the Canary Islands (at the top).
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
x633f870n
label
Carte de l'Isle de Cuba et des Isles Lucayes
core
obj
dtoType
map
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
x633f870n
contentType
map
stage
normalized
title
Carte de l'Isle de Cuba et des Isles Lucayes
description
Appearing in a French school atlas published at the beginning of the 19th century, this map demonstrates the close proximity of Cuba to Florida (separated only by the 110-mile wide Florida Strait) and the Bahama Islands. The latter are identified here as the Lucayas, thus named for the native inhabitants first encountered by Christopher Columbus. His initial landfall is noted on this map as Chat (Cat) or Guanahani Island, although nearby is Watling (San Salvador) Island, which is generally accepted today as Columbus' original landfall. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Bahamas provided a haven for British privateers who harassed the Spanish fleets leaving Havana and sailing north along the Florida coast. This map was apparently prepared for an international audience, since it includes both French and Spanish scale measurements and two longitude designations, one based on the Paris Meridian (at the bottom ) and the Spanish preference of the Ferro Meridian in the Canary Islands (at the top).
date
["[1801]"]
year
1801
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
No known restrictions on use.
reuseAllowed
no restrictions
language
French
identifierLocal
06_01_007879
creators
Mentelle, E. (Edme), 1730-1815
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection
subjects
Cuba--Maps
Bahamas--Maps
subjectsGeographic
Bahamas
Cuba
North and Central America
genreBasic
Maps
typeOfResource
Cartographic
country
Cuba
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
pageCount
1
source
import
pubPlace
Paris
publisher
s.n.
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
41688024w
schema:latitude
21.5
schema:longitude
-80
extent
1 map : col. ; 49 x 61 cm.
notes
Relief shown pictorially.
Appers in Mentelle and Chanlaire's Atlas universel de géographie physique. Paris. [1797-1801].
Featured in the Faces & Places Exhibit, Kravis Center, Palm Beach, FL, since 2005. MB (BRL)
Cataloging, conservation, and digitization made possible in part by The National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.
hasTranscription
no
dcId
x633f870n
type
map
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
19827671d2d0a72b