Totius Americae Septentrionalis et Meridionalis

Uncommon edition of Homann’s map of America, coloured by religious groups. It is an excellent example of the second state of Homann’s map of the Americas, which restores California to its peninsular form. The decorative cartouche includes an allegorical encounter between armed natives and Europeans, with two figures symbolising the natives of North and South America attentively observing the scene. The most notable features of this edition of the map are the colouring and the incorporation of a colour key in the lower right, which reflects the religious groups of North America: Roman Catholic, Evangelical Reformed and pagan (Indians). In North America, the Spanish and French colonies appear as Catholic (Mexico, Florida and Louisiana), while the Eastern Colonies and most of the Canadian coast are shown as Protestant. In a large territory in the centre of what is today the United States, and in a vast expanse running from northern California to Labrador, the principal religion is represented as “pagan”, corresponding to indigenous territories not yet conquered. In Central and South America, the Amazon and the Southern Cone, largely unknown to the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, appear coloured as “pagan”, while the rest is coloured as “Catholic”. Mexico, Louisiana and Florida, as well as most of the West Indies, are also shown as Catholic, except for Jamaica, the northern coast of Brazil to Guyana, and several small Dutch and British islands, which are represented as Protestant. In addition, the map offers good geographical detail as a whole, especially in the south-west and near the Great Lakes, areas that at that time were being actively explored by the French trappers and the Hudson’s Bay Company. Original antique map of North and South America.