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Mapping the
commercial potential of the Americas
By the middle of the eighteenth century the British had become well established
in the Americas. Their colonies in North America were growing rapidly
and their sugar plantations in the West Indies had become enormously profitable.
As more and more Englishmen invested in the Americas or saw friends and
relatives sail to the new world to make their fortunes, interest in learning
more about the Americas grew as well. One of the most comprehensive sources
of information was the massive two-volume collection of explorers' accounts
edited by John Harris (1667?-1719). The collection was first published
in 1705, and then was updated with new maps in this second edition issued
in 1744, followed by a third edition in 1760. The
maps for this edition were done by one of the leading English mapmakers
of the eighteenth century, Emanuel Bowen (d. 1767).
Bowen's map of the West Indies shows a move away from the Dutch artistic
style of mapmaking in favor of a more precise, technical approach. Unlike
the earlier Dutch maps, Bowen's contains extensive navigational information,
including the directions of prevailing winds and the presence of shoals.
Since the map was engraved for the Harris volume, this sailing information
was probably intended less for sea captains and more for arm-chair travelers
in a maritime-minded country.
English mapmakers were not the only ones producing maps of the North
American colonies. Tobias Lotter (1717-1777), one of a new group of talented
German mapmakers working in the eighteenth century, produced this map
of the northern colonies sometime in the 1750s. The influence of the Dutch
mapmakers can be seen in the striking cartouche in the upper left in which
a well-dressed European merchant is shown gathering in the riches of the
country, brought to him by happy natives.
The map would have had a ready audience in Germany because large numbers
of Germans were settling in the northern colonies,
particularly Pennsylvania, to take advantage of the abundant available
land.
When the Dutch West India Company removed Maurice de Nassau (1604-1679) from
his post as governor of Brazil, Nassau retaliated by underwriting the production
of this magnificent illustrated book on the history of his administration.
Nassau commissioned the Dutch scholar Caspar de Baerle (1584-1648) to write
the narrative, and the printer and engraver Johannes Blaeu to produce the
maps and illustrations. Many of the illustrations were based on paintings
done by Frans Post, one of a group of artists and scientists who had been
recruited by Nassau to work in  Brazil
in the expectation that their efforts would attract wider European interest
in the colony. This richly detailed map of
a portion of the Brazilian coast is one of a series showing the landscape
and settlements along the shore. Each of the maps includes an attractive,
idealized scene of plantation life. At the bottom are small scenes showing
the sea battles by which the Netherlands gained control of Brazil in 1630.
These illustrated maps served multiple purposes: to celebrate Dutch overseas
triumphs, to reassure Dutch investors of the colony's potential, and to
attract new investors and settlers. In fact, the Dutch control of Brazil
was short-lived, ending in 1654 when the established Portuguese settlers
successfully rebelled against the governor. |
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