Carte Du Perou ou se trouvent les Audiencees de Quito, Lima et la Plata.
1778 (undated) 18 x 13 in (45.72 x 33.02 cm)
1 : 7500000
A beautiful example of Jan Janvier's c.1778 decorative map of Peru. Covers the western parts of South America from just north of the Equator south as far as the Tropic of Capricorn. Includes the modern day nations of Peru, Ecuador (here called Quito), Bolivia, and parts of adjacent Brazil, Columbia, Chile and Argentina. Offers excellent detail throughout showing mountains, rivers, national boundaries, cities, regions, and tribes.
Curiously, this map identifies the 'Ancienne demeure des Manaos.' This was once a great trading empire was centered along the Rio Negro in the Amazon Basin. The Manoa traded from Peru to the Orinoco. There were perhaps most famously encountered by Sir Walter Raleigh in Guyana while on an annual trading expedition to the region. Raleigh, seeing the gold artifacts carried by the traders immediately assumed they must be from El Dorado. He asked local tribesmen who they were and where they came from. The locales responded that they crossed a great lake and came from a rich land called Manoa. Though at the time Raleigh did not explore this further, he did later write that he discovered the great city of Manoa, capital of El Dorado, on a vast lake in Guyana. No doubt Raleigh intended to return to South America but was prevented from doing so by his unfortunate beheading back in England. As a result of Raleigh's guess work, the Lake of Parima and city of Manoa would appear for several hundred years on maps of northern South America.
A large decorative title cartouche appears in the lower left quadrant. Drawn by R. Bonne for issue as plate no. B 34 in Jean Lattre's Atlas Moderne.
Rigobert Bonne (October 6, 1727 - September 2, 1794) was one of the most important French cartographers of the late 18th century. Bonne was born in Ardennes à Raucourt, France. He taught himself mathematics and by eighteen was a working engineer. During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 - 1748) he served as a military engineer at Berg-op-Zoom. It the subsequent years Bonne became one of the most respected masters of mathematics, physics, and geography in Paris. In 1773, Bonne succeeded Jacques-Nicolas Bellin as Royal Cartographer to France in the office of the Hydrographer at the Depôt de la Marine. Working in his official capacity, Bonne compiled some of the most detailed and accurate maps of the period - most on an equal-area projection known erroneously as the 'Bonne Projection.' Bonne's work represents an important step in the evolution of the cartographic ideology away from the decorative work of the 17th and early 18th century towards a more scientific and practical aesthetic. While mostly focusing on coastal regions, the work of Bonne is highly regarded for its detail, historical importance, and overall aesthetic appeal. Bonne died of edema in 1794, but his son Charles-Marie Rigobert Bonne continued to publish his work well after his death.
Jean Lattre (fl. 1743 - 1793) was a Paris based bookseller, engraver, and map publisher active in the mid to late 18th century. Lattre published a large corpus of maps, globes, and atlases in conjunction with a number of other important French cartographic figures, including Janvier, Zannoni, Bonne and Delamarche. He is also known to have worked with other European cartographers such as William Faden of London and the Italian cartographer Santini. Map piracy and copyright violations were common in 18th century France. Paris court records indicate that Lattre brought charges against several other period map publishers, including fellow Frenchman Desnos and the Italian map engraver Zannoni, both of whom he accused of copying his work. Lattre's offices and bookshop were located at 20 rue St. Jaques, Paris, France.
Lattre, Jean, Atlas Moderne ou Collection de Cartes sur Toutes les Parties du Globe Terrestre, c.1778.
Very good. Some toning and wear along original centerfold. Minor foxing. Original platemark visible.
Rumsey 2612.078. Phillips (Atlases) 664. National Maritime Museum, 215.