Diego Gutiérrez, Map of America (1562)

In 1562 Diego Gutiérrez, a Spanish cartographer, and Hieronymus Cock, a noted engraver from Antwerp, collaborated in creating this map, then  then referred to as the fourth part of the world. The largest engraved map of America to that time, it depicts the eastern coast of North America, all of Central and South America, and portions of the western coasts of Europe and Africa. The Equator and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are clearly shown, though, notably, the political line of demarcation from the Treaty of Tordesillas is not.  One of the apparent intentions in preparing the map, indicated by the Spanish coat of arms claiming possession, was to define clearly Spain's America for the other European powers who might have designs on the region. The map is filled with images and names that had been popularized in Europe following Columbus's 1492 voyage of discovery. It shows the Amazon River system, other rivers of South America, Lake Titicaca, Potosí and Mexico City, Florida, and many coastal features of South, Central, North, and Caribbean America. It also contains one of the earliest references to California, labeled on the southern tip of Baja California. Alongside these places are images of parrots, monkeys, mermaids, fearsome sea creatures, cannibals, Patagonian giants, and an erupting volcano in central Mexico.