Northeast Canada and Greenland

Estotilandia et Labradoris Terra by Wytfliet

This map is part of Cornelius van Wytfliet’s Atlas, the first regional atlas of the entire American continent. The name Terra de Laborador goes back to the Portuguese navigator João Fernandes Lavrador who is said to have spotted this enormous peninsula in 1500. The map is especially important because it depicts the travels and discoveries of Martin Frobisher (1535-1594) and John Davis (1550-1605). The knowledge about these three journeys originally comes from Richard Hakluyt’s The Principall Navigations (1589). Older maps of this region already existed, such as two maps by James Beare (from 1578) and a map by Michael Lok (patron of Frobisher’s first voyage from 1576). These earlier maps were so rudimentary that they had no idea where Frobisher had been. Wytfliet draws the Forbisseri Angvstiaeals as a street south of Greenland.

Frobisher also landed on the current Resolution Island. It was some years later with the travels of John Davis (1585-1587) that a more accurate knowledge of the area was gained. John Davis is the namesake for Davis Street (street between Baffin Island and Greenland). On the map, Wytfliet attempts to refer to this as the Fretum Joan Davis. But this is probably the Hudsonstraat (street between Labrador and Baffin). It is now thought that A furious fall should be Hudson Bay. Also note the imaginary Frysland that was depicted on almost all maps of this region between 1550 and 1650. The island was first depicted by Nicolo Zeno (1515-1565) in his map of 1558. He relied on forged letters and a map of his ancestors Antonie and Nicolai Zeno (alleged explorers in that area) around 1400, who thus claimed the Venetian claims to discoveries and thus on territory in North America for the Doge Republic against France and Spain. When Mercator showed this island on his world map, it was unfortunately followed slavishly for a long time.

Original title: Estotilandia et Labradoris Terra