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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