Map of South America from 1694

This beautiful map of the continent is decorated with elaborate title and mileage cartouches, which balance the lower part of the map with images of Native Americans, flora and fauna.

One cartouche contains the title of the map, while the other shows eight different distance scales, recording the variety of European measurement systems before the metric system was adopted during the French Revolution.

Cartographically, the map shows the course of the Amazon fairly accurately, but the source of the river is a fascinating labyrinth of intertwined waterways.

The fictitious Mer de Parime is named in Guyana, along with the mythical Manoa el Dorado on its banks. Also, the Paraguay River erroneously flows into a lake called Xarayes in the middle of Brazil. An alternative Latin title appears above the map: “America Meridionalis in suas Praecipuas Partes Accurate Divisa, ad usum Serenissimi Burgundiae Ducis”. “L’Amerique Meridionale Divisee en ses Principales Parties”, Jaillot, Alexis-Hubert

1694 Map of South America – Historical Map