.JPG)
A handful of maps dating back to the 1500’s will be unveiled in Florida for the first time. It’s an honor that will go to the Tampa Bay History Center! The rare maps, with international importance, once belonged to Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes.
According to the Tampa Bay History Center, the letter in the exhibit, was written by Cortes to the King of Spain, Charles V, explaining his conquest of the Aztec Empire. “This letter and a map were printed and bound in book form in Germany two years later. The map represents two great achievements in New World cartography. It is the first map to show any city in North America – the Aztec Capital of Tenochtitlan. The second feature on the map is equally important, as it is the earliest printed map with the name of Florida and the first accurate map of the Gulf of Mexico,” announced the museum in its July 26th news release.
A Chamber member since 1993, the Tampa Bay History Center is home to the Touchton Map Library collection, which includes some of the most significant maps in Florida History, dating as far back as 1511. The Cortes letter and map are part of its newest exhibit called Mapping the American Sea: A Cartographic History of the Gulf of Mexico, opening Saturday, August 3.
“The acquisition of this map lifts the Touchton Map Library and the Tampa Bay History Center into a very small group of institutions–both nationally and internationally–whose collections include such important artifacts,” said Rodney Kite-Powell, Director of the Touchton Map Library. “Just think, before this map was published 500 years ago, no map printed on Earth had the name Florida on it. The information on this map, as seemingly limited as it is, broke new cartographic ground and helped to usher in a new wave of European exploration and conquest.”
All photos by Octavio Jones for the Tampa Bay History Center.
Enjoy this preview of the exhibit from ABC Action News... also a proud member of the Tampa Bay Chamber.