North America in 50 historical maps: 1502-2018

The 4th continent is named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. The name America was introduced by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller. He wrongly assumed that Amerigo Vespucci - and not Columbus – had been the first European who discovered the new western continent. The name appeared for the first time on his famous world map published in 1507. The printed wall map was lost for a long time; the only survived copy was found in Schloss Wolfegg, in southern Germany in 1901. The map, also called the “birth-certificate of America”, was purchased by the Library of Congress in 2003. The (eastern) coastline of America was drawn much more accurate on the world map of Ribero in 1527. The first separately printed map (pocket version) of the new continent (the Americas) was included in Sebastian Munster’s encyclopaedia (1540 onwards). The first (printed) separate maps of North America appeared in the mid 16th century. At first they were small overview maps in pocket atlases, e.g. by Italian cartographer Porcacchi. Numerous large (atlas) maps made by famous cartographers would follow: e.g. Jansson (Netherlands), Sanson (France), Moll (England) and Lotter (Germany).