1702 Scherer Map of the Philippine Islands (Philippines) and Guam

A stunning 1703 map of the Philippines, South China Sea, western Pacific, and Guam by Heinrich Scherer. Essentially two maps on a single sheet, the primary map, appearing at right, covers from Korea to New Guinea and from Borneo to the Marinara Islands, including China, southern Japan, the Philippines, the Marinara Islands, and parts of Indonesia and New Guinea. The left had map is a detailed study of Guam - which has recently converted to Christianity. It bears a Jesuit themed title cartouche and exhibits several ships (Magellan?) and various sea creatures in the Pacific.

Guam?

It may seem unusual for a German map of 1703 to contain such a large and detailed map of Guam, a tiny island in the Pacific. Guam's outsized presence on this map reflects Scherer's religiosity and fervor for conversation to the faith. Guam was first encountered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, but not settled until the 1565 arrival of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. Despite Legaspi's claim, it was largely ignored by Europeans for the subsequent century. Nonetheless, on June 15, 1668, the galleon San Diego arrived bearing Jesuit missionaries led by Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores. San Vitores introduced Christianity to the island and began to develop trade with Spanish colonies in Mexico and the Philippines. The Spanish taught the indigenous Chamorros to cultivate maize (corn), raise cattle, and tan hides. The missionaries also introduced Spanish language, dress, culture, and most importantly, Catholicism, which quickly became the island's dominant religion. To a religious Jesuit like Scherer, the conversion Guam would have seemed a triumph of Catholic values with significance far greater than the actual size and population of the remote Pacific island might suggest.

This map was published to Scherer's important Atlas Novus.