1788 Bonne Map of Northern Brazil, Guyana, the Amazon

A fine example of Rigobert Bonne's c. 1788 map of northern Brazil, which appeared in his and Nicolas Desmarest's Atlas Encyclopedique. It focuses on the Amazon River and its tributaries as well as the mountainous interior further to the south.

A Closer Look

This detailed map features the northern portion of Brazil from Bahia to Guyana, including the lower portion of the Amazon River and its adjacent rainforest. Rivers, lakes, mountains, settlements, indigenous tribes, and administrative divisions are noted throughout. Both the Ferro and Paris Meridian are included, along with six different scales. Of note is the legendary Lake Parime in the northwest. It was on the shores of this lake that many explorers mistakenly believed they could find the city of Manoa, or El Dorado.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Rigobert Bonne and engraved by André, about whom little is known. It appeared as map No. 107 in Volume II of Bonne and Nicolas Desmarest's Atlas Encyclopedique, a very successful atlas that went through several editions in the late 18th century. The map is similar though not identical to Bonne's earlier c. 1780 map in his and Guillame Thomas Raynal's Atlas de Toutes les Parties Connues du Globe Terrestre. As the subtitle suggests, it was paired with Feuille II (No. 106), covering a portion of the Atlantic coast of South America extending south to Buenos Aires, which somewhat confusingly directly preceded it in the atlas. The present map is only independently cataloged (as part of the pair) among the holdings of the University of California Los Angeles and DePaul University, while the entire Atlas Encyclopedique is more widely distributed among universities and research institutions.