Amplissimae regionis Mississipi seu Provinciae Ludovicianae a R. P. Ludovico Hennepin Francisc Miss in America Septentrionali Anno 1687. Detectae, Nunc Gallorum Colonis et Actionum Negotiis Toto Orbe Celeberrimae by Homann, Johann Baptiste - 1720

Nuremberg, Germany: Io. Bat. Homanno, 1720. Map. Very Good. This double-page engraved map is approximately 19.5" x 23.5". Hand-colored. Title cartouche in the upper left corner shows the missionary explorer, Father Hennepin, with allegorical New World figures, a buffalo head, and a classic image of Niagara Falls. A vignette in the lower right corner shows a slightly inaccurate illustration of an American bison flanked by Native Americans. Text is in both French and Latin. Although Homann's very attractive map of the Louisiana Province (often referred to as the "Buffalo Map") was only issued in one edition (first in 1720), it was included in a number of atlases until the mid-1760s making specific maps almost impossible to accurately date. It is based upon Guillaume de l'Isle's map of 1718 and, like de l'Isle's map, was politically controversial. The labeling of vast territory west of the Appalachian Mountains as French "La Louisiane" angered Great Britain and especially Spain, and his depiction of an exceptionally large "Florida" was contested as well. Routes of early explorers are shown and labeled as are Native American tribes and pueblos, Catholic missions, fortifications, portages, and early settlements. Southern Florida is shown as an archipelago and labeled "Antropophages" (cannibals). Overall, this is a very attractive example of an important map.