America Peruana and Oceanus Peruvianus: a different cartography of the New World¹

América Peruana y Oceanus peruvianus: una otra cartografía para el Nuevo Mundo

Amérique Peruviénne et Oceanus Peruvianus: autre cartographie pour le nouveau monde

From 1550 to the first decades of the 18^thcentury, the news about the Inca Empire and the mineral wealth of the western portion of South America influenced the cartographic production about the continent in many ways. This article analyzes a series of maps produced from the 1590s onwards, especially by some Dutch and Portuguese cartographers, in which the centrality of Peru manifests in different forms and has different purposes. Among these forms are the naming of the continent and of the Pacific Ocean, and the emphasis placed on the Potosi mountain. We also propose the inclusion of the expedition commanded by the English pirate Bartholomew Sharp along the western coast of South America in the 1680s as a case of dissemination of maps and of news on the riches explored by the Spaniards during this period, as well as its impact on cartography.

Portuguese cartography; Potosi; cartography of South America