carte de la californie - California Map Society

"=-11 Map 15 I~··
Didier Robert de Vaugondy, 1772
CARTE DE LA CALIFORNIE*
~NHESE
FIVE MAPS on one sheet present a cartographic history of California up to
1757. This sheet is one of ten map sheets that appeared in Diderot and D'Alembert's
Encyclopedia, ou Dictionaire raissonne des Sciences, des Arts, et des Metiers, which was
published in Paris, 1770-1779. The maps on these sheets were compiled by Robert de
Vaugondy, a distinguished French cartographer, and present parts of Asia, the North
Pacific and North America which serve to illustrate various geographical conceptions of
what were then distant and little known parts of the world.
The first map reproduces an Italian map of 1604 that shows California as it was then
perceived. The ragged coast line is largely a cartographer's invention, but the place names
along the coast derive from the voyage of Cabrillo in 1542-3 (map 3). The second map is
a portion of map 10, showing California as an island. The place names along the coast are
from the voyage of Vizcaino (map 8), which supplanted those of Cabrillo. Map three is
from Guillaume Delisle's map of America, 1700. Delisle at that time concluded it was not
possible to decide based upon the available records whether California was part of the
continent or an island (map 12). Accordingly, he showed the upper part of the Gulf of
California, called here the California or Red Sea, as narrowing but not closed, and blank
beyond. New discoveries, Delisle said, would determine the matter. At this very time,
unknown to Delisle, the matter was being decided. Map four shows the results of the
explorations of Father Eusebio Kino in the years 1698-1701 (map 11). Kino determined
that the Sea of California was closed and California was jOined to the continent. Map five
is a portion of a Spanish map that first appeared in Miguel Venegas' Noticia de la
California, Madrid, 1757, which is the first history of California. The map shows the
results of explorations carried out by the Jesuits in the years since Kino's explorations.
The text to the map Singles out the contribution of Father Ferdinand Consag (called
Gonsaque on the map) who explored the upper end of the Gulf of California and
confirmed Father Kino's conclusion that California was part of the continent.
At the time this'map was published, Spain had already established a presence in
Upper California at San Diego and Monterey. The mapping of California was now
entering a new era (map 14).
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Carte De La Californie I Suivant I I la Carte manuscrite de l'Amerique de Mathieu I Neron Pecci
olen dressee a Florence en 1604. I II Sanson 1656. I III De l'lsle Amerique Sept. 1700. I IV le Pere
Kino Jesuite en 1705. I V la Societe des jesuites en 1767. I La Cote orientale depuis le C. des
Vierges jusqu'a l'embou- I chme du R. Colorado est extraite de la Carte du P Ferdinand I Gonsaque
dressee en 1746. [Engraved, 29 x 36.5 cm.]
*MAP OF CALIFORN IA
Map courtesy of Glen McLaughlin.
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