Introduction

Relatively few of the hard-used maps from the age of exploration have survived, and very few are as large, detailed, and accurate as that compiled by Diégo Gutiérrez and engraved by Hieronymous Cock in 1562.  One of only two copies, this map was the largest known map of the new world printed up to that time; it measured fully 33.2 inches wide by 34.4 inches tall and was divided into six carefully aligned sheets.  The map is a relatively accurate summary of exploration up to the early 1550s, but does not include the French findings in North America nor, perhaps more surprising, those of the Spanish in South America in the decade prior to its publication.  The map was the first known map to use the name California.  It also notably perpetuated, almost three-quarters of a century after Columbus, the popular belief that the New World was first discovered by Americus Vespucius, and thereby was named after him.  After reviewing our guidelines for reading maps, study the Gutiérrez map for insights about the extent of Europe’s geographic knowledge, the features and cultures they considered worth noting on such maps, and the barriers, physical and conceptual, that prevented them from capturing the actual size and characteristics of the New World.  A second, modern map shows the major voyages of exploration that occurred during this period.