Abstract

CONNOLLY, Priscilla. The map is the City? A new look at the bird's eye view of Mexico City in 1628 by Juan Gómez de Trasmonte. Invest. Geog [online]. 2008, n.66, pp.116-134. ISSN 2448-7279.

The beautiful "birds-eye-view" of Mexico City by Juan Gómez de Trasmonte is extremely well-known as almost the only surviving representation of the city in the seventeenth-century. The origin, intentions and history of this map are, however, less well-known. In fact, classical texts on the subject are mostly inaccurate or incomplete. Incorporating new cartobibliographic evidence, this article reinterprets Trasmonte's plan from the point of view of four methodological statements: i) The map is the territory. ii) The map is not the territory. iii) Territories are maps and iv) The maps is the map. Hopefully, this analysis contributes some innovative methodological principles for studying historical urban cartography.

Keywords : Cartography; History; Mexico City; Juan Gómez de Trasmonte; Vingboons.

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