1837 Thierry Map of Amapá, French (Guiana) - Brazilian Territorial Dispute

Long-running Franco-Brazilian Territorial Dispute.

This is a rare c. 1837 map of a portion of Amapá state in northern Brazil, printed by Thierry Frères in Paris. At the time, France and Brazil were locked in a bitter territorial dispute over this sparsely inhabited and heavily forested area. The previous year, France took advantage of a separatist uprising in the Brazilian province of Grão-Pará, which included the area seen here, to stake a claim to the territory and extend the southern border of French Guiana. The resulting crisis nearly led to war, and even after the two sides agreed to demilitarize the area in 1841, the dispute was not resolved until an international arbitration commission ruled in Brazil's favor in 1900.

A Closer Look

This map is oriented toward the west and covers a portion of the coastal region of Amapá opposite the Ilha de Maracá, which is now a conservation zone and ecological research station. Much of the territory covered here consists of palétuviers (mangroves), a vast tropical wetland that floods at high tide. The location of a fortified outpost on the 'Ile de Choisy', the source of much diplomatic wrangling (see below), is indicated, along with proposed future outposts and fortifications, as well as the location of an agricultural settlement of 'Brazilian refugees'. The water of Lake Mapa is noted as being sweet and good for drinking. The shoreline of the Ilha de Maracá includes some soundings and anchorages, in anticipation of future naval supply and reinforcement for the outpost on Lake Mapa.

Historical Context

In the late 1830s, a territorial dispute between the Empire of Brazil and France escalated into a crisis that threatened war. The disagreement was rooted in rival interpretations of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the War of Spanish Succession (1701 - 1714). While Brazil maintained that the treaty established the Oiapoque (Oyapock) River as the southern boundary of French Guiana, France asserted that the true boundary lay further south at the Araguari River, only 50 miles from the Amazon River, thus encompassing much of modern Amapá state. In 1836, France seized an opportunity to advance its claim by exploiting the instability caused by the Cabanagem Revolt (1835 - 1840). This violent uprising severely weakened Brazilian imperial control throughout the large northern province of Grão-Pará (which included the area seen here). French colonial authorities in Cayenne dispatched forces south of the Oiapoque and established a military outpost at Lake Mapá (Poste de Mapá). The Brazilian regency viewed this move as an armed encroachment on its sovereign territory, prompting sharp diplomatic protests from Rio de Janeiro and the reinforcement of Brazilian defenses around Macapá to block further French advances toward the Amazon estuary.

To avert outright war, both governments entered diplomatic talks that culminated in the 1841 neutralization accord. Under this provisional agreement, France consented to evacuate and dismantle its garrison at the Mapá outpost, and both powers pledged to refrain from stationing troops or establishing administrative authority between the Oiapoque and Araguari rivers. The disputed territory, known in diplomatic circles as the Contesté franco-brésilien, was formally declared a neutral buffer zone pending a definitive bilateral boundary settlement. While the 1841 compromise defused immediate military tensions, it deferred the question of sovereignty rather than solving it, leaving the region as an ungoverned expanse frequented by runaway enslaved populations, gold prospectors, and deserters. When French settlers looking to capitalize on gold and rubber potential in the region established a 'Republic of Independent Guyana' in 1886, Brazil appealed to the international community, and an international arbitration panel formed in Geneva in 1900 ruled in favor of Brazil, finally ending the dispute.

Publication History and Census

We are only aware of one cataloged example of this map, or rather, the manuscript original on which it is based, held by the Archives nationales d'outre-mer (Cote: FR ANOM 14DFC865B). The manuscript map is attributed to one Thomas Ferdinand Ronmy, capitaine du Génie, presumably a military engineer attached to the Mapa outpost. This published version was printed by Thierry Frères and appeared in 1837 as front matter in Nouvelles Annales des Voyages et des Sciences Géographiques, and was accompanied by an article titled 'Mémoire sur les nouvelles découvertes géographiques faites dans la Guyane française et sur le nouvel établissement formé à l'île de Mapa,' written by Baron Charles-Athanase Walckenaer (1771 - 1852), a geographer, civil servant, and polymath who later worked as the head Conservator at the Département des cartes in the Bibliothèque royale de Paris. Walckenaer's article describes the region's geography based on reports from French military engineers and justifies French claims to the disputed territory.

Cartographer

Thierry Frères (fl. 1834 - c. 1850) was a French lithographic printing and publishing firm based at 1 Cité Bergère, Paris, active during the middle decades of the 19th century. The firm succeeded the Paris establishment of Godefroy Engelmann (1788 - 1839) around 1834-35 and produced maps, scientific illustrations, topographical views, and portraits. Its cartographic work included the lithographic printing of Agustín Codazzi's (1793 - 1859) Atlas físico y político de la República de Venezuela, dated Caracas, 1840, but printed in Paris. The atlas combined historical, physical, and administrative mapping, including maps of Venezuela's provinces, comparative mountain and river diagrams, and representations of the campaigns of independence; most of its maps bear the Thierry Frères imprint. The firm's name also appears among the lithographic contributors to the atlas accompanying the historical account of the Russian circumnavigation aboard the corvette Séniavine, published in Paris in 1835-36. Alongside these geographical and scientific commissions, Thierry Frères printed architectural and landscape subjects, including illustrations for Voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans l'ancienne France, and numerous portraits. Surviving impressions document work for different publishers rather than a business confined to issuing its own publications. The house continued producing topographical lithographs around 1850, including plates for Souvenirs des Pyrénées.   Further Details...

Source

Walckenaer, C., 'Mémoire sur les nouvelles découvertes géographiques faites dans la Guyane française et sur le nouvel établissement formé à l'île de Mapa,' Nouvelles Annales des Voyages et des Sciences Géographiques, (Paris: Librarie de Gide), Tome 75 (3ème série, Tome 15), 1837.    

Condition

Very good. Left and right margins extended. Light wear on original fold lines.