DESCRIPTION: A scarce Spanish nautical chart of the harbor, islands, and waters surrounding Veracruz, Mexico. An original antique navigation chart by the Direccion Hidrografia; the detailed chart is dotted with numerous depth soundings and notation of composition of the sea floor, e.g. arena (sand), piedra (rock), and lama (mud).
Place names and features on this old Spanish harbor chart include Castillo de San Juan de Ulua, Arrecife e Isla de Pajaros, Arrecife de la Blanquilla, Punta de la Gallega, Punta de Hornos, and Arrecife de Punta Gorda and Arrecife e Isla de Sacrificios. Isla de Sacrificios has a bloody past. Bernal Diaz del Castillo reports that when the Spanish first landed on the Isla de Sacrificios:
"We found two stone buildings of good workmanship, each with a flight of steps leading up to a kind of altar, and on those altars were evil-looking idols, which were their gods. Here we found five Indians who had been sacrificed to them on that very night. Their chests had been struck open and their arms and thighs cut off, and the walls of these buildings were covered in blood. All this amazed us greatly, and we called this island the Isla de Sacrificios, as it is now named on the charts."
From the second part of "Portolano de la America...", published in 1818 by Spain's Admiralty department, the Dirección de Hidrografía. In 1809 the Direccion first published this atlas of plans of bays, harbors, and ports from Spain’s New World possessions: "Portolano de la America Septentrional Construido en la Direccion de Trabajos Hidrograficos". (Updated in 1818). Plate 52.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1818
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: Mexico
BODY OF WATER: Gulf of Campeche
CONDITION: Very Good.
On 19th century heavy laid paper with a very prominent platemark. A fine impression.
COLORING: Fine, attractive hand-coloring by wash technique.
ENGRAVER: T. Gonzalez
SIZE: 10
" x
7 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 10
PRICE: $850
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