Floridae Americae Provinciae Recens & exactissima descriptio Auctorè Iacobo le Moÿne cui cognomen de Morgues, Qui Laudõnierum, Altera Gallorum in eam Prouincian Nauigatione comitat . . . in Part II of Theodore de Bry’s Grands Voyages, 1591.

Floridae Americae Provinciae Recens & exactissima descriptio Auctorè Iacobo le Moÿne cui cognomen de Morgues, Qui Laudõnierum, Altera Gallorum in eam Prouincian Nauigatione comitat . . . in Part II of Theodore de Bry’s Grands Voyages, 1591.

The American province of Florida recently, and exact description of the author James le Moÿne whose nickname of Morgues, who Lothian, it Prouincian voyage the French into the next county. . . In Part 2 of Theodore de Bry's Grand Voyager, 1591.

Jacques Le Moyne’s map and forty-two of his illustrations of Timucua Indian life in Florida appeared in De Bry’s work. The experiences of le Moyne paralleled and then intersected with that of John White. In 1564 Le Moyne sailed as an artist with the French Huguenot’s illfated attempt to plant a colony in Florida. The Spanish attacked Fort Carolina on the River May (the St. John’s), and only fifteen people, including Le Moyne, escaped the massacre. He then settled in London and was hired by Sir Walter Raleigh to document his Florida experience. Le Moyne and White became colleagues, and a surviving, unpublished map by White that covers from Cuba to the Chesapeake was certainly based on this work by Le Moyne. Both White and Le Moyne came into contact with the Dutch publisher, Theodore De Bry, who lived in London from 1585 until 1588. Le Moyne refused to accept De Bry’s offer to purchase his work, but when LeMoyne died in 1587 his wife sold his work to De Bry. Some scholars question the autheticity of LeMoyne’s Florida drawings since they should have been destroyed during the Spanish attack.

While this map included accurate information about the coast, the speculative nature of the interior, particularly the placement and size of the lakes, perpetuated misinformation for decades. Some later cartographers combined Le Moyne and White’s maps and produced a map which greatly reduced the Carolina area.

1591

Jacques Le Moyne

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