New Spain’s Cartography within Global Geography: José Antonio de Alzate’s Maps of North America

Several printed versions of José Antonio de Alzate’s Nuevo Mapa Geográphico de la América Septentrional (1768) are known to exist. Despite his progressive changes to the map, the Mexican polymath saw it as a single “cartographic model” that he perfected over time. This article analyses his sources and working methods, as well as his contacts with other authors in New Spain and Europe. By distinguishing between mechanisms of passive and active circulation of both resources and cartographic methods, we can note an apparent change in Alzate’s practice, one which was stimulated by his interaction with, adaptation to and integration into a global geographical context.