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Manuscript/Mixed Material World Map, in two hemispheres, engraved or struck on silver, and bearing the track of Drake's 1577-1580 circumnavigation of the earth Silver map / Drake silver map

About this Item

Title

  • World Map, in two hemispheres, engraved or struck on silver, and bearing the track of Drake's 1577-1580 circumnavigation of the earth

Other Title

  • Silver map
  • Drake silver map

Summary

  • Another example of the Drake Silver Map or Silver Medal, a piece commemorating Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the earth, and in itself a treasure of the art and science of cartography.

Names

  • Mercator, Michael, -1600
  • Hans and Hanni Kraus Sir Francis Drake Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • 1589.

Headings

  • -  Drake, Francis,--approximately 1540-1596
  • -  Discoveries in geography--English
  • -  Geography--Early works to 1800
  • -  Commemorative medal

Notes

  • -  The medal is 68 mm. diameter, with small tang, unpierced, projecting at the North Pole. Weight, 410 grains Troy. A second copy of the Silver Map, without the cartouche bearing the engraver's name and the date. This is the usual state of this map, as known by all other examples The map is enclosed in an oval container of pressed horn, with silver mounting, bearing on its cover the Drake coat of arms, with Sir Francis' motto: "Sic parvis magna.
  • -  The map is of considerable cartographic importance. It depicts not only the newly established colony of "Virginea," but also the Drake discoveries in Upper California. It is the second published map to include these features; apparently only the map inserted in the Hakluyt edition of Peter Martyr's Decades (1587) preceded it.
  • -  drakenew

Medium

  • 1 medal ; 68 mm in diameter.

Repository

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021699443

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of the Sir Francis Drake Collection have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

More about Copyright and other Restrictions.

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Mercator, Michael, -1600, and Hans And Hanni Kraus Sir Francis Drake Collection. World Map, in two hemispheres, engraved or struck on silver, and bearing the track of Drake's -1580 circumnavigation of the earth. 1589. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021699443/.

APA citation style:

Mercator, M. & Hans And Hanni Kraus Sir Francis Drake Collection. (1589) World Map, in two hemispheres, engraved or struck on silver, and bearing the track of Drake's -1580 circumnavigation of the earth. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021699443/.

MLA citation style:

Mercator, Michael, -1600, and Hans And Hanni Kraus Sir Francis Drake Collection. World Map, in two hemispheres, engraved or struck on silver, and bearing the track of Drake's -1580 circumnavigation of the earth. 1589. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021699443/>.