Nell Ward Lecture: Putting Florida on the Map

Putting Florida on the Map: The Story Behind the Hernan Cortes Map of the Gulf

Few maps surpass the importance of the one created to accompany Hernan Cortes's 1522 letter to Spain's King Charles V.  That map, published with the letter in 1524, is the first printed map to accurately depict the Gulf of Mexico and the first to show the name Florida.  Learn about the map, its creator, and the story surrounding it at the annual Nell Ward Lecture on Cartography.