We tend to think that soon after the Columbian voyages, Europeans relatively quickly understood new lands to the West as the separate continent of America. However, copious sources, including texts, maps, prints, and paintings, show that early modern Europeans regularly represented the Americas as Asia. This talk explores some of these sources, and considers the broader significance of the Amerasian understanding of the world that pervaded the European imagination up until the 18th century.
Event—Public Programming