Charting Their Journeys:  Explorers Record the Americas, 1500 - 1900

 

From the search for a new trade route to the Orient to the race for a lunar landing, explorers have charted their journeys in wonderfully pictorial maps.  What were the explorers’ impressions?  What experiences and observations prompted the explorers to record them on maps and charts?  Who knew what, when?  Join Ed Redmond, Geography and Map Reference Specialist, Library of Congress, as we glimpse these journeys to the Americas through the eyes of those who lived them.

 

Early European Exploration of the Americas

 

1507 - Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii alioru[m]que lustrations.  Martin Waldseemuller, Map Collections, American Memory
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3200.ct000725

 

1562 - Americae sive qvartae orbis partis nova et exactissima descriptio / avtore Diego Gvtiero Philippi Regis Hisp. etc. Cosmographo ; Hiero. Cock excvde 1562 ; Hieronymus Cock excude cum gratia et priuilegio 1562.  Diego Gutierrez, Map Collections, American Memory
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3290.ct000342

 

“The 1562 Map of America by Diego Gutierrez,” Special Presentation, Map Collections:  Discovery and Exploration, American Memory
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gutierrz.html

 

1612 - Virginia / discovered and described by Captayn John Smith,  graven by William Hole.  John Smith, Map Collections, American Memory
.http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3880.ct000377

 

1639Pascaert van Nieuw Nederlandt Virginia, ende Nieuw-Engelandt verthonendt alles wat van die landin by See, oft by land is ondect oft Bekent.  (Map of New Nederland in Virginia and New England...), Johannes Vingboons, 1639.  “The Dutch in America,” The Atlantic World:  America and the Netherlands, Global Gateway
http://international.loc.gov/intldl/awkbhtml/kb-1/kb-1-2.html#track1

 

1718 – Louisiana: European Explorations and the Louisiana Purchase - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/maps/lapurchase/index.html

 

Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi [i.e. Mississippi]: dressée sur un grand nombre de mémoires entrautres sur ceux de Mr. le Maire / par Guillaume Del'isle del Academie R'le. des Sciences. 1718, Paris, Map Collections, American Memory - http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3700.ct000666

 

1775 – Exploration and the American West, Meeting of Frontiers: Siberia, Alaska, and the American West, Global Gateway
http://international.loc.gov/intldl/mtfhtml/mfdiscvry/mfdiscv.html

 

The Russian discoveries from the map published by the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg, [London]: Printed for Robt. Sayer, Map and Printseller., 1775.  Map Collections, American Memory
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g7321s.mf000006

 

 

Maps of Self-Discovery:  From American Colonies to Fledgling Nation

 

1750 - [Plat of survey for John Lindsey of 223 acres in Frederick County, Va.]., George Washington.  Map Collections, American Memory
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3883f.ct000355

 

George Washington:  Surveyor and Mapmaker, Special Presentation in Map Collections:  Cultural Landscapes, American Memory
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gwmaps.html

 

1814 - A map of Lewis and Clark's track across the western portion of North America, from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean : by order of the executive of the United States in 1804, 5 & 6 / copied by Samuel Lewis from the original drawing of Wm. Clark ; Neele, sculp.

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4126s.ct000763

 

Rivers, Edens, and Empires:  Lewis & Clark and the Revealing of America, Exhibitions

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/

 

Lewis & Clark section of exhibition - http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/lewis-landc.html

 

1857 - Map of the discovery of the East Coast of the United States.  Johann Georg Kohl.  Map Collections, American Memory
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g370931s.np00001a

 

 

Exploring the Unknown Continues

 

Moon (subject term search), Map Collections, American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@FIELD(SUBJ+@band(+Moon++))

 

Earth As Art:  A Landsat Perspective, Exhibitions
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/earthasart/

 

Map Collections, American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html

 

 

For Further Exploration

 

American Memory

American Notes: Travels in America, 1750-1920 - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lhtnhtml/lhtnhome.html

 

"California as I Saw It:" First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900 - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cbhtml/cbhome.html

 

The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region, ca. 1600-1925 - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lhcbhtml/lhcbhome.html

 

The Evolution of the Conservation Movement; 1850-1920 - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amrvhtml/conshome.html

 

The First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/icuhtml/fawhome.html

 

Mapping the National Parks - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/nphtml/nphome.html

 

Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820-1910 - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/umhtml/umhome.html

 

Trails to Utah and the Pacific: Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869 - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/upbhtml/overhome.html

 

Westward by Sea:  A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820 - 1890 - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/mymhihtml/mymhihome.html

 

Exhibitions

1492:  An Ongoing Voyage - http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/1492/

 

Maps In Our Lives - http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/maps/

 

Global Gateway

Collaborative Digital Collections - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/find/digital_collaborations.html

See:

-         The Atlantic World:  America & the Netherlands:  Exploration and Discovery - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/fiahtml/fiatheme1.html#track1

-         France in America:  Exploration and Knowledge - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/fiahtml/fiatheme1.html#track1

-         Meeting of Frontiers: Siberia, Alaska, and the American West:  Exploration - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/mtfhtml/mfdiscvry/mfdiscv.html

-         Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier:  Early Exploration and Settlement - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/eshtml/es-1/es-1.html#track1

-         United States and Brazil: Expanding Frontiers, Comparing Cultures:  Navigation and Discovery - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/brhtml/br-1/br-1-2.html#track1