“Tractus Australior Americae Meridionalis a Rio de la Plata per Fretum Magellanicum ad Toraltum / Nieuwe Perfecte Pascaert van ‘t Suyderlyckfte deel van Suyt America, van Rio de la Plata door de straet Magellaen tot Toral.” Copper engraving published in Amsterdam by Reinier and Josua Ottens in around 1745. Coloured by a later hand. Size: approx. 48,5 x 56 cm.
Beautiful sea chart of South America, extending from Rio de la Plata to the Magellan Strait and Tierra del Fuego archipelago.
The dramatic cartouche depicts an encounter between Tierra del Fuego natives and Dutch explorers, where natives show the wealth of their land: (melted) gold and cattle. The Dutch merchant Jacob le Maire and his captain Willem Schouten rounded Cape Horn in 1616 on their way to discover a route towards the East Indies.
A naval battle unfolds in the South Atlantic, presumably a scene from the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
The chart, first published by Frederick de Wit, is one of the most elegant and detailed charts of South America published in the 17th Century and was likely engraved by Romeyn de Hooghe. Our map is a re-issue from the early 18th century by the Ottens family.
Price: Euro 1.250,-
