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| Keywords: 1730 Covens and Mortier Map of South America - Geographicus - SouthAmerica-covensmortier-1730.jpg An extraordinary example of a c 1730 two map set depicting South America This is Covens and Mortier's c 1730 reissue of Guillaume de L'Isle's magnificent c 1708 map of this region The northern sheet covers from Costa Rica and Barbados south roughly to the Tropic of Capricorn or more precisely 50 degrees south latitude Southern sheet covers roughly from 18 degrees south latitude south to Tierra del Fuego Both maps are notable for their extraordinary condition with a dark strong impression on clean white paper Early 18th century maps rarely appear in this superb condition The northern sheet of this set like most early maps of the area contrasts a detailed mapping of the coast with a speculative discussion of the interior particularly the Amazon Basin Offers a fairly accurate mapping of both the east and west coasts with exceptional detail in the populated Andean regions of Columbia Ecuador Labeled Quito and Peru Notes Cuzco Lima Quito Valladolid Arequipa Trujillo and other important trading centers of the region In Portuguese controlled Brazil Rio de Janeiro San Salvador and San Sebastian are noted Lake Maracaibo in modern day Venezuela is slightly malformed and elongated The interior is where this map gets interesting De L ™lsle was a cautious and scientific cartographer who based his maps on the first hand reports from sailors merchants and missionaries that at the time were flowing into Paris at an unprecedented rate Consequently many of his maps offer significant cartographic advances over their predecessors This map is no exception and De L'Isle credits the mappings and explorations of Alonzo de Herrera Johannes de Laet P P D Acuna and M Rodriguez Nonetheless De L'Isle's mapping of South America's interior is full of inaccuracy curiosities and ample fodder for the gold hunting European Our survey of this map begins with De L'Isle's impressively accurate mapping of the Amazon and Orinoco River systems - though he does erroneously connect the two an understandable error common to maps of the period Roughly where the Grand Sabana is today in modern day Venezuela De L'Isle speculates the location of Lake Parima and the city of El Dorado curiously this is actually gold rich region though difficult to access and mine Further South he notates numerous gold rich indigenous groups including Los Plateros and Xarayes The Xarayes a corruption of Xaraiés meaning Masters of the River were an indigenous people occupying what are today parts of Brazil's Matte Grosso and the Pantanal When Spanish and Portuguese explorers first navigated up the Paraguay River as always in search of El Dorado they encountered the vast Pantanal flood plain at the height of its annual inundation Understandably misinterpreting the flood plain as a gigantic inland sea they named it after the local inhabitants the Xaraies The Laguna de los Xarayes almost immediately began to appear on early maps of the region and at the same time almost immediately took on a legendary aspect Later missionaries and chroniclers particularly DÃaz de Guzmán imagined an island in this lake and curiously identified it as an Island of Paradise an island of the Paraguay River more than ten leagues 56 km long two or three 11-16 km wide A very mild land rich in a thousand types of wild fruit among them grapes pears and olives the Indians created plantations throughout and throughout the year sow and reap with no difference in winter or summer the Indians of that island are of good will and are friends to the Spaniards; Orejón they call them and they have their ears pierced with wheels of wood which occupy the entire hole They live in round houses not as a village but each apart though keep up with each other in much peace and friendship They called of old this island Land of Paradise for its abundance and wonderful qualities circa 1730 undated Size in 23 41 object history credit line accession number SouthAmerica-covensmortier-1730 Covens J Mortier C <i>Atlas nouveau contenant toutes les parties su Monde ou sont exactement remarquees les empires monarchies royaumes etats republiques c Par Guillaume de l'Isle</i> c 1830 editon Geographicus-source PD-old-100 1730 maps Old maps of South America Covens en Mortier French language maps of South America Old maps of the Amazon River Old maps of the RÃo de la Plata 1730 in South America | ||||
