Catalog Archive
Auction 146, Lot 337

"Cours du Fleuve Maragnon Autrement dit des Amazones", Fritz, Samuel [Father]

Subject: Amazon River

Period: 1717 (circa)

Publication: Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses

Color: Hand Color

Size:
13.8 x 8.6 inches
35.1 x 21.8 cm
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The Jesuit missionary Samuel Fritz spent 42 years in South America. During this time he mapped the missionary territory on the Upper Maranon between Peru and Quito, which was involved in a boundary dispute between Spain and Portugal. He spent 1689 exploring the Amazon and charting the river's course. This was the first approximately correct chart of the Maranon territory. He was also the first to follow the Tunguragua instead of the Gran Para (Ucayali) and prove it the real source of the Maranon. His important chart and the fascinating story of his imprisonment as a suspected Spanish spy were copied in numerous accounts during the 18th century. The map shows all of northern South America. Locates Lima and Cusco. Decorative title cartouche upper right and compass rose in the Pacific Ocean.

References: Phillips (Maps) p. 100.

Condition: B+

Issued folding, now flattened with light soiling. Trimmed to neatlines and professionally pasted onto a sheet of old paper to create margins.

Estimate: $275 - $350

Sold for: $300

Closed on 9/4/2013

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