Early Mapping of the Pacific: The Epic Story of Seafarers, Adventurers and Cartographers Who Mapped the Earth's Greatest Ocean

383 Pages·2004·32.74 MB·English

by  Thomas Suarez

Published by Periplus Editions
with editorial offices at
61 Tai Seng Avenue, #02-12
Singapore 534167
Copyright © 2004 Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd
Text © 2004 Thomas Suárez
All rights reserved
ISBN 978–1-4629–0697–0 (ebook)
Printed in Singapore

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Front endpaper. Fig. 1. World map, Frederic de Wit, 1660 (ca. 1700). [Maryayan
Lan, NY] Page 1: Fig. 2. Volvelle on a north polar projection, Peter Apianus,
1524, based on the Waldseemiiller pattern of 1507 (Fig. 28). Apianus's use of a
north polar projection allows the Pacific to be mapped unbroken. The landmass
labeled "America" is South America; the island above left is Central and North
America. The Pacific's only inhabitants are Japan, based on Marco Polo (just left
of North America, at 270°), and a simple representation of Southeast Asian
islands. Page 2: Fig. 3. Islamic World Map, Zekeriya Kazvinî, Acaib-ül
Mahlûkat (The Wonders of Creation), Istanbul, ca. 1553. An unusual depiction
of the earths seas contained by the encircling mountains of Qaf, the whole
resting, via land and sea creatures, in the firmament on an "ocean" in a cosmic
vessel. [Library of Congress] Back endpaper: Fig. 223. Physical map of the
Pacific by Philippe Buache, 1744 (1754), illustrating his theories about the
"grand chain of mountains that traverses eastern Asia and western America." An
"inhabited island" lies at virtually the exact position of Hawaii, about 40° west of
Baja California and 19° north latitude. Quirós's Marquesas are based on a similar
source as later used by Dalrymple (Fig. 130), and Roggeveen's Easter Island
(Isle de Páques) lies near Davis's land, which Roggeveen had been searching for
when he discovered it. [Antipodean Books].
Above: Fig. 4. World map, Jose da Costa Miranda, 1706. [The Mitchell Library, Library of New South
Wales, Sydney] Overleaf. Fig. 5. Pacific Ocean, Levasseur, 1838. Pages 8 and 9: Fig. 6. Japan wedged
between California and China, with Pacific islands discovered by Bernardo de la Torre in 1543 on the east,
and the Liu-ch'iu islands ending at Taiwan (fermosa) on the west (detail), Abraham Ortelius, 1570; Fig. 7.
Depiction of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean, from Linschoten's Itinerario, 1596; Fig. 8.
Southeasternmost section of the "Catalan Atlas," a world map attributed to Abraham Cresques, ca. 1375.
[From a facsimile in the Library of Congress]; Fig. 9. Polynesian girl, drawing by Alfred Agate of the US
Exploring Expedition, ca. 1840. [Naval Historical Foundation]