This fine scarce
original antique map of Samuel Fritz's highly important
map of the Marañon and Amazon Rivers, was first printed
in Quito in 1707 and was published in In
Lettres édifiantes et curieuses. Écrites des missions
etrangères, par quelques missionaries de la compagnie de
Jesus, Paris, N. Le Clerc, 1717, and thereafter in
subsequent editions of the reports of the Jesuit
Missionaries.
The map provides a remarkably detailed depiction of the
course of the river, with particular importance in its
treatment of the Marañon River, where Fritz worked for
most of his life and produced a map of the highest
importance, which was subsequently copied by other map
makers for many years thereafter.
Samuel Fritz (1654-1728) joined the Society of
Jesus in 1673. In 1684 he was sent to Quito as a
missionary, where he worked with the Indians of the
Upper Marañon for 42 years. He succeeded in converting
among others the powerful tribe of Omaguas (Omayas) and
in concentrating into settlements indigenous peoples
from forty different localities, in the country between
the River Napo and River Negro.
In 1687, at the request of the Spanish Colonial
Government in the Audiencia of Quito, he began undertook
the mapping of the disputed missionary territory on the
Upper Marañon between Peru and Quito. In 1689 he
undertook, in a pirogue, an expedition down the Amazon
to Pará, where he was captured and imprisoned for two
years on the suspicion of being a Spanish spy.
Despite his lack of proper equipment, Fritz completed a
comparatively accurate chart of the river's course. This
was the first approximately correct chart of the Marañon
territory. Fritz was also the first to follow the
Tunguragua instead of the Gran Pará (Ucayali) and prove
it the real source of the Marañon.
(Ref:
M&B; Tooley)
General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy & stable
Paper color: - White
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 14 1/4in x 9in (365mm x
230mm)
Paper size: - 14 1/4in x 6 1/4in (365mm x
160mm)
Margins: - Min 0in (0mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Left margin cropped to border, right margin
cropped just into image
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
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