California as an Island
Nicolas Sanson / Joan Vinckeboons and others, c. 1650
$191
Print check at 20 x 16 in: 193 dpi, good. Trimmed 6.1% to the shape of the print.
Shipping to a US address: $25.90 for this piece, from the print room in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Checkout is not open yet. Your cart is saved on this device.
For nearly a century, mapmakers were certain California was an island. The error crept in around 1620, spread across the finest maps of Europe, and proved so stubborn that Spain issued a royal decree in 1747 declaring California not an island — and still the beautiful mistake lingered. These maps sever California cleanly from the continent, a long green isle floating in its own sea. A monument to how an idea, once drawn, can outlive the truth. The most famous phantom in the history of the map.
- Maker
- Nicolas Sanson / Joan Vinckeboons and others
- Date
- c. 1650
- Medium of the original
- Plate
- Original held by
- New York Public Library
- Credit
- New York Public Library
- Rights
- Public domain, verified
- Catalogue number
- PA-00334
| Picture | 20 x 16 in |
|---|---|
| Outside size | 21.6 x 17.6 in |
| Depth | 0.9 in (22 mm) |
| Weight | [[REAL PROOF NEEDED: shipped weight per size and frame]] |
| Hanging | [[REAL PROOF NEEDED: hanging hardware Prodigi fits to this frame]] |
| Material | Enhanced matte art paper, 200 gsm; acrylic glazing |
| Made in | Charlotte, North Carolina, by Prodigi |
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | dpi | Grade | How it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 x 8 in | 386 | Excellent | Trimmed 6.1% |
| 14 x 11 in | 276 | Excellent | Trimmed 7.7% |
| 20 x 16 in | 193 | Good | Trimmed 6.1% |
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 12 x 8 in | Wrong shape: a 22% crop |
| 16 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 12% crop |
| 18 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 22% crop |
| 24 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 22% crop |
| 24 x 18 in | Wrong shape: a 12% crop |
| 30 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 22% crop |
| 30 x 24 in | 128 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 36 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 22% crop |
| 40 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 12% crop |
| 48 x 36 in | Wrong shape: a 12% crop |
| 60 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 22% crop |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 3,869 x 3,295 px, srgb
- Tone
- Darks 124, lights 225 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 3.55
- Notes
- Neutrals lean warm (yellow): the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned
Shipping for this piece to a US address is $25.90, the print room’s own rate, charged per piece. Checkout shows the total before you pay.
Every piece is printed after you order it, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and ships from there. For now we ship to US addresses only.
A piece that arrives damaged, misprinted or in the wrong size is replaced at our cost. The details: shipping and returns and replacements.
Cartographer’s Dream
The world, as the great mapmakers dreamed it.
All 52 pieces from Cartographer’s Dream
