Canada's History

Paolo Forlani’s map of the world

- — M.C. Reid

Shakespear­e once asked, “What’s in a name?” In the case of this map, a single place name — Canada — elevates it from an obscure piece of parchment into a historical treasure for Canadians.

Created in 1560 by Italian engraver Paolo Forlani, it is the first known map to bear the name Canada. It also contains two other place names familiar to many Canadians today — Saguenai (modern-day Saguenay, Quebec), and Stadacone (today spelled Stadacona), the latter an Iroquois village near what is now Quebec City that was visited by French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1535.

Forlani, a Venetian, based his map on an earlier one created in 1546 by Italian cartograph­er Giacomo Gastaldi that omitted Canada.

 ?? ?? Above: A map of the world created in 1560 by Italian engraver Paolo Forlani contains broad similariti­es to modern maps of the world — but also some serious inaccuraci­es. For instance, the map portrays western North America and Asia as being a single connected land mass. Forlani also dotted his map with more than a dozen sea monsters. The place names Canada, Saguenai, and Stadacone are seen in closer detail in the insets on the opposite page.
Above: A map of the world created in 1560 by Italian engraver Paolo Forlani contains broad similariti­es to modern maps of the world — but also some serious inaccuraci­es. For instance, the map portrays western North America and Asia as being a single connected land mass. Forlani also dotted his map with more than a dozen sea monsters. The place names Canada, Saguenai, and Stadacone are seen in closer detail in the insets on the opposite page.
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