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“This atlas was issued as part of Humboldt and Bonpland’s Voyage aux régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent fait en 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804 (Paris, 1808-1834), which was published in over thirty volumes over several decades…This atlas is important for many reasons, and its illustrations showed Europe and the entire world new scientific information for the first time. Humboldt’s groundbreaking exploration of the Orinoco River, for example, is delineated on two maps, one of which was the first to establish the precise location of and to show the connection between Rio Orinoco and Rio Negro, a question that had baffled geographers for three centuries…The Orinoco river maps are supplemented by maps of other rivers, many accurately depicted for the first time. Also significant are the profiles and maps of mountain ranges, which are depicted with scientific precision showing new information in novel ways. Many of the profiles are dramatically hand colored… The dramatic volcano plates are supplemented by several large-scale maps, which are masterful depictions of land forms. These studies were crucial to Humboldt’s later conclusions about the origin and nature of these natural structures and constitute one of his major contributions to the field of geology. Humboldt mapped many areas in an accurate fashion for the first time. Because riverbeds and stream courses interested him immensely, those features are often shown in great detail on the maps, which also depict other natural and man-made features, such as mountains, missions, roads, and settlements. His map of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, for example, was from the latest available surveys recently done by the Mexican government (Humboldt was for fifty years an advocate of an interoceanic connection between the Atlantic and Pacific). The Cuba map is also an updated version and reflects his recent explorations of the island. Despite a few secondary sources, most of the maps are based directly on his extensive travels and observations during the course of his explorations. Perhaps the most remarkable map in this atlas is the first printing of a manuscript map that harks back to the very earliest European cartographic representation of the New World. This is the manuscript world map made by Spanish conquistador, cartographer, and explorer Juan de la Cosa (ca. 1460-1509), who sailed with the first three voyages of Columbus and was the owner of the Santa María. This portolan world chart incorporates lands discovered in America up to 1500 during expeditions by Spanish, Portuguese, and English expeditions to America. Juan de la Cosa’s mappa mundi is painted in ink and colors on ox hide (93 x 183 cm) and richly decorated. His map is believed to be “the earliest extant map showing any part of the continent of North America” (Schwartz & Ehrenberg, The Mapping of America, Plate 1, pp. 18-19)… Finally, going back to the beginning, the emblematic frontispiece engraving Humanitas. Literæ. Fruges (after the art work of artist Barthélemy Joseph Fulcran Roger) is not just another pretty, classical picture, but rather an expression of Humboldt’s deep philosophical concept of America and Europe expressed in iconography.” (Dorothy Sloan, Auction 22, 2009). This copy is unbound in original paper covers with multiple title pages. See our “Atlas Geographique Et Physique Du Royaume De La Nouvelle-Espagne,” 1811 for the other atlas volume in this series, concerning Mexico.
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