Tag: Location: Pennsylvania
Pensylvania, Nova Jersey et Nova York cum regionibus ad Fluvium Delaware in America sitis
This map was made by a German mapmaker, Lotter, and he made it in response to great interest back in Germany about the area depicted. Eastern Pennsylvania was, after all, one of the principal places in which Germans emigrating to the Americas settled, and there would be more to come in part because of maps like this. They answered a felt need in Europe to tell a little bit more about what it is that this “New World” would look like if they, uh- if they came. In the, uh, upper left-hand corner, is a, uh, huge cartouche[1] – a colorful cartouche reflecting William Penn trading with indigenous people, and running through the, uh, the rest of the cartouche are a variety of animals – a wild turkey in the middle, a stag with great horns in the, uh, upper-right – and throughout there is activity that immediately draws the eye.
Another interesting feature of the map is the distortion of, uh, New England, which may, in part, have been intentional or, in part, simply for lack of knowledge. But New York is, uh, squeezed beyond recognition. Connecticut, uh, the same. Rhode Island is a mere blip. Massachusetts is highly narrowed and, remarkably, Cape Cod is reflected as being part of Connecticut. So, a lot of re-organizing of the understanding of this part of the world was yet to come. But, uh, as a map, and as a piece of attractive propaganda for coming to this part of the New World, the Lotter map is hard to surpass.
[1] “Cartouche, in architecture, ornamentation in scroll form, applied especially to elaborate frames around tablets or coats of arms. By extension, the word is applied to any oval shape or even to a decorative shield, whether scroll-like in appearance or not.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/art/cartouche Accessed 9 Mar. 2021.
For more details, view the catalog record: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/1935659
A map of Pennsylvania exhibiting not only the improved parts of that Province, but also its extensive frontiers
Unfortunately, the map of the colony is not complete because we don’t see, uh, Lake Erie in the upper left-hand corner. But, again, if we go back over to the right, up in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, we see reference to the Pocono Mountains. We see, uh, reference to the “Endless Mountains” up toward Wyalusing. There is a reference here to the “Great Swamp.” And, of course, as one goes back down south toward Philadelphia tracing the route of the Delaware River, one gets back into, uh, the part of the world that we are familiar with here in, uh, southeastern Pennsylvania. There is a reference here to Radnor, and, of course, we are here in Radnor Township. There’s a reference to Lower Merion, and, uh, there are a number of historic spots that are picked up by this methodical and wonderful mapmaker. One could spend, literally, hours and hours enjoying all of the many facets that are backed up by Mr. Scull. A wonderful map. An extraordinary map.
For more details, view the catalog record: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/1691581