A. Amerique Meridionale, by Nicolas Sanson & Pierre Mariette, from L'Amerique en Plusieurs Cartes..., circa 1662 (10.9 x 7.8"). Delicately engraved map of South America with a charming cartouche and a simple compass rose. It presents very good information in the interior, focusing particularly on the systems of the La Plata and Amazon rivers. A remnant of the mythical Lac de Parime with the fabled Manoa o el Dorado (City of Gold) is still shown straddling the equator in Guyana. Another mythical lake, Lac de Eupana ou de los Xarayes, is depicted in Paraguay. Engraved by A. Peyrounin. Ref: Pastoureau, Sanson II C. Condition: Light offsetting.

B. Amerique Meridionale, by Alain Manesson Mallet, from Beschreibung des Ganzen Welt-Kreisses..., published 1685 (3.8 x 5.7"). A finely engraved miniature map of the whole of South America showing the principal colonies and kingdoms. It is embellished with vignettes of Indians on land, sailing ships in the surrounding seas, and an ornate title cartouche. The mythical equatorial lake Parime is shown, as well as the equally spurious Xarayes Lac, depicted as the headwaters of the La Plata. From a German edition of Mallet's Description de l'Univers…, published by Johann David Zunner, with a German title at top. Ref: Pastoureau, Manesson-Mallet I B. Condition: A few spots of foxing, primarily confined to blank margins.

References:

Condition: B+

See description above.