Historic Map : Wytfiet Map of Anian (Alaska, Pacific Northwest), 1607, Vintage Wall Art

A beautiful example of the 1607 edition of Cornelis avn Wytfliet's Anian Regnum. One of Wytfliet's more enigmatic productions, this map speculatively illustrates must of the west coast of the United States, Canada, and Alaska. Although significantly larger latitudinally, the westward reaching bulge bears a striking and purely coincidental resemblance to modern day Alaska. The basic cartography employed here by Wytfliet was derived from the 1569 world map of Gerard Mercator. Wytfliet identifies several cities and kingdoms, most of which are mythical. These include Anian, Quivira, and Tolm. He further identifies the cities of Tuchano, Quivira, Cicuic, and Tignex on the west coast; and Pagul, Salboy, and Cibirago, along an inland river system just south of the Arctic Circle. The sources of some of these place names are unknown, but others are traceable to the exploration of Cabrillo and from Coronado's expedition to Cibola. The kingdoms of Bergi and Tolm were transposed to the Americas from earlier maps of Asia.

Wytfilet first published this map in 1597. A second state appeared in 1607 and corresponds with the current example. The only difference between the two states is the removal of the 1597 date from the title cartouche. Cartographically they are identical. Wytfliet published this map in his Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum, essentially an supplement to Ptolemy's Geographica intended to account for the discovery of the New World.