“America quarta pars: Island or continent? The conceptual argument about the geographical status of America in sixteenth century”.

CARLA LOIS

Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand

Conferencia; Te Taki o Autahi - Under the Southern Cross. International Cartographic Conference; 2008

Australian Map Circle, New Zealand Map Society and IMCOS

Since the early sixteenth century, maps and books displayed America as the quarta pars of the world. The idea of the “four parts” remarked an intended equivalence between the already known three parts (Europe, Asia and Africa) and the new one. However, many scholars had noticed that, while the traditional partes were pieces of a huge unique landmass, America was an island. Analyzing the interpretations of world geography at that time, I will focus on the essays that tried to provide an equivalent theoretical status to the four parts of the world.