1733 Petroschi/ Lozano/ Dávila Jesuit Map of Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chaco

This rare 1733 Pedro Lozano map of central South America, engraved by Giovanni Petroschi, is the first appearance of Antonio Machoni's amendments to Juan Francisco D’Avila's foundational map of the La Plata region. These changes were made both to the Chaco region on the west bank of the Paraguay River (the location of Machoni's missionary work) and the southern coast of what would become Uruguay. The region was a key theatre of Jesuit missionary activity; consequently, the Jesuits produced the first accurate maps of the complex river systems emptying into the Rio de la Plata. The present work illustrates the process of revision over the 18th century, with the contributions of key cartographers and missionaries.

A Closer Look

The map reaches as far north as modern-day Bolivia, showing the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra within the curve of the Guapa River. It reaches as far south as the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. The famous Cerro Potosi, a literal mountain of silver and the location of the Spanish colonial silver mint, also appears. The map reaches far enough east to mark the Isla de Lobos, but does not include the Atlantic-facing coast of Uruguay. It exhibits its best detail in the Misiones region of the Paraná River and the Chaco region west of the Paraguay River. Jesuit missions are noted throughout; a key differentiates cities, Christianized towns, and 'Pueblos de Infieles.'

The Source and its Revisions

While the present work is slightly narrower in scope, it is based primarily on Juan Francisco D'Avila's 1722 Paraquariae Provinciae Soc. Jesu cum Adjacentib. Novissima Descriptio. That work - also engraved by Petroschi - was the most complete map of the Rio de la Plata watershed available at the time and provided the basis for most of the century's maps of that region. In his Cartografia Jesuttica del Rio de la Plata, scholar Guillermo Furlong Cardiff hailed this unacquirable map as 'without doubt the most complete and most comprehensive map undertaken by the Jesuits up to the middle of the eighteenth century.' (Buenos Aires, 1936, p. 44). D'Avila's 1722 map was published in Rome in 1726; it was subsequently copied widely, most notably by Stöcklein in 1728 and Seutter in 1730.

The present map, produced to accompany Pedro Lozano's 1733 description of the Chaco region, was not a rote copy: it included significant revisions both to the Chaco region and also to the southern coast of Uruguay, derived from the contemporary reports of Antonio Machoni, who had been an active missionary in the Chaco up until his posting to Europe as Procurator for the Paraguayan missions. The coast of Uruguay has here half a dozen more placenames than the original D'Avila. The Chaco region is significantly redrawn, not least in its river systems, but also adding copious indigenous placenames and noting the locations of several martyrdoms.

These revisions do not appear on the Stöcklein or the Seutter, which were copied from the early version of the D'Avila. They were, however, incorporated in the 1732 Paraquariae and its 1760 edition.

Jesuit Reductions and the Suppression

The underlying cartography took D'Avila more than 10 years to compile. He began work on this map around 1712 at the order of the Father Provincial. In a letter dated 1722, D'Avila discloses that the map was made so that the Superior General Michelangelo Tamburini (1648 - 1730) could better understand distances between the Jesuit establishments in order to manage the transference of personnel.

At the time, the region was dominated by an expansive network of missionary outposts collectively known as the Jesuit Reductions (Reducciones Jesuiticas). Their mission was to convert, tax, govern, and develop the indigenous population, primarily the Tupi-Guarani. The Reductions were extremely successful on all fronts, developing a thriving inland economy largely distinct from the colonially administered coastal territories.

The success of the Reductions led to vast wealth. The Reductions individually and collectively levied and equipped armies from their Guarani converts. Eventually, their prosperity and near independence drew the ire of colonial authorities in Europe, who increasingly sent troops into the Reductions. This spurred a series of armed conflicts, including the Guarani War of 1756, and led to a period known as 'The Suppression.'

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved by Giovanni Petroschi for inclusion in Pedro Lozano's 1733 Descripcion chorographica del terreno, rios, arboles, y animales de las dilatadissimas provincias del gran Chaco.... The book is well represented in institutional collections, with about 35 examples listed in OCLC. The separate map is scarce; we see only two examples listed with the British Library (misdated) and the National Library of Chile. It is rare on the market. An 1837 lithograph facsimile is less rare.