Naming of America

Posted on July 19, 2023 Updated on July 19, 2023

Perhaps many of you have seen the Waldseemüller’s 1507 world map reproduction hanging on the wall in the AGSL but do you know the story of the naming of America? Here is a blog from the Library of Congress, the owner of the original, manuscript Waldseemüller’s 1507 world map discussing mapping and the naming of the northern and southern continents in the Western Hemisphere.

“The story of the naming of America has been told before – not surprisingly considering the object central to the story, Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 world map, is one of the most important treasures in the Geography and Map Division. The name was bestowed by the mapmaker to show his support for Amerigo Vespucci’s argument that the recently-discovered shores were indeed a separate continent (or two, depending on your preference). Into one of the woodblocks, roughly in what’s today northern Argentina, Waldseemüller had carved the name “America,” and from my perspective five hundred years later, it appears to have stuck.”

Click here to read the rest of the story … https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2023/07/southern-lands-explorers-and-bears-oh-my/?loclr=eamap