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Americæ nova descriptio Historic map, Library of Congress
Summary
Relief shown pictorially.
A re-engraved version of a map previously published for Henri Seile in 1652 under the title "Americae descriptio nova" and subsequently re-published from the same engraving as the 1652 map for Phillippi Chetwood in 1666.
Appears in Peter Heylyn's "Cosmography in four books", 1677.
Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image.
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In the 17th century, maps took a huge leap forward. Mathematical and astronomical knowledge necessary to make accurate measurements had evolved. English mathematicians had perfected triangulation: navigation and surveying by right-angled triangles. Triangulation allowed navigators to set accurate courses and produced accurate land surveys. Seamen learned to correct their compasses for declination and had determined the existence of annual compass variation. Latitude determination was greatly improved with the John Davis quadrant. The measurement of distance sailed at sea was improved by another English invention, the common log. Longitudinal distance between Europe and Québec was determined by solar and lunar eclipses by the Jesuit Bressani in the 1640s and by Jean Deshayes in 1686. With accurate surveys in Europe, the grid of the modern map began to take shape.
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