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| The geographical detail on this richly embellished map is based on reports by the artist and chart maker Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, one of the survivors of an ill-fated French attempt to colonise Florida between 1562 and 1568. As official artist of the expedition, Le Moyne produced a manuscript map which was acquired by de Bry after Le Moyne's death in 1588 and which he used to create this masterful engraving. Published in part II of de Bry's "Great Voyages", Le Moyne's map appears to greatly exaggerate French influence in the region at a time when Florida was being jealously defended by the Spanish. Of great rarity, this is the earliest detailed map of just Florida. |
