Lopez & Cruz Cano Mapa Maritima del Golfo de Mexico e Islas de la America 1755 UTA (left)

This two-sheet map of the Gulf and Caribbean, dedicated to the King of Spain Fernando VI, was one of the first maps produced by López along with his fellow Spanish student expatriate in Paris, Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla (1734-1790). European knowledge of the coastlines of the Caribbean islands, Central America, and southern North America was extensive by the eighteenth century. Between 1783 and 1786, the Gulf was resurveyed in a systematic manner by the primer piloto José de Hevia.