Historic Map : Bowen Map of North America and South America (Western Hemisphere) , 1747, Vintage Wall Art

A stunning 1747 decorative map of the Western Hemisphere by E. Bowen. Covers North and South America as well as much of the Pacific and the Atlantic as far as Spain and the Canary Islands. Details America during the Colonial Period. In North America, England controls the colonies along the eastern coast of the continent and surrounding the Hudson Bay. France occupies Louisiana, parts of Canada, and the Great Lakes region. Spain controls the western part of the continent as well as Florida, Mexico, most of the West Indies and, with the exception of Portuguese Brazil, all of South America. Most of western North America is unexplored though Bowen does name several known points along the coast, including the Bay of the Conception and Cape Mendocino. He also notes Drakes Port where Francis Drake laid claim to New Albion for England in 1579. Though the true location of Drakes Port is the object of considerable debate, most associate it with Pelican Bay on the border of California and Oregon. The Pelican was Francis Drake's ship and the bay is named after it to this day. Further north the coastline becomes speculative, though the Supposed Straits of Annian are noted. The Straits of Anian are said to be the entrance to a Northwest Passage discovered in the 16th century by the apocryphal navigator Admiral de Fonte. Inland, near the northern tip of Baja, Bowen draws Great Teguayo, one of the Kingdoms of Gold presumed to be found in the unexplored American west. Understandably misinterpreting the flood plain as a gigantic inland sea, they named it after the local inhabitants, the Xaraies. The South Pacific portions of this map contain numerous islands, some of which are real, but most of which are difficult to associate with any actual islands. The Solomon Islands are drawn wildly out of proportion to their actual size leading to speculation that they may have been confused with nearby New Britain.