Map of the Course of the Oroonoko, from the Mouth of the Rio Sinaruco to Angostura. Compiled from Pobservations made on the Spot by Alexandre de Humboldt.

1818 Humboldt Map of Part of the Course of the Orinoco River, Venezuela

Date d'édition : 1818

A propos de cet article

Very good. Light wear along original fold lines. Verso repairs to fold separations. Light foxing. Size 7.5 x 14.25 Inches. This is an 1818 Alexander von Humboldt map of part of the Orinoco River in modern-day Venezuela. It was compiled to illustrate Humboldt's epic voyage through South America, resulting in his Cosmos , an era-defining scientific work. A Closer Look This map illustrates a stretch of the Orinoco River from the mouth of the Cinaruco River (Rio Sinaruco here) in the lower left corner to St. Ann, a village not far from the Orinoco's banks. Tributaries of the Orinoco appear in detail, and cities and villages along the river's course are marked and identified. Humboldt also notes areas inhabited by Indians as well as ancient settlements. The city San Thome de la Nueva Guayana is the modern-day city Ciudad Bolívar. Humboldt in South America After Humboldt's securing the goodwill of the Spanish crown and permission to travel in Spanish America, Humboldt and his friend Aimé Bonpland (a French physician turned botanist) embarked for the New World from Spain in June 1799. Forty-one days later, they arrived in Cumaná, in the Captaincy General of Venezuela. Humboldt and Bonpland spent the next several months exploring the region around Cumaná before heading overland to Caracas. They left Caracas for the Orinoco River on February 7, 1800, intent on scientifically determining if there was a connection between the Orinoco and the Amazon Rivers. It took the explorers nearly two months to arrive at a tributary of the Orinoco, reaching the banks of the Apure on March 26, 1800. They spent the next 74 days traveling the vast river system, eventually determining with scientific precision the location of the Casiquiare River, which famously flows both ways, and connects the Orinoco River to the Río Negro, the largest tributary of the Amazon. Afterward, Humboldt and Bonpland spent the next 4 years traveling through Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico, where they were feted by both the political and scientific communities. They arrived in Philadelphia in May 1804. While in the United States, Humboldt was a guest of President Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. Publication History and Census This map was compiled by Alexander von Humboldt, engraved by Samuel Neele, and published for the English edition of Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, 1749-1804 (Longman, 1818). One example of the separate map is cataloged in OCLC and is part of the collection at the University of Michigan. While the separate map is scarce, Humboldt's Personal Narrative , in its many editions, is well represented in institutional collections. References: OCLC 847605646.

N° de réf. du vendeur CourseOroonoko-humboldt-1818

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Map of the Course of the Oroonoko, from the Mouth of the Rio Sinaruco to Angostura. Compiled from Pobservations made on the Spot by Alexandre de Humboldt.
• Date de parution: 1818
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • SOUTH-AMERICA