1666 Pieter Goos Chart of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay)

This is Pieter Goos' 1666 nautical map of the southernmost parts of South America, from the region around the Rio de la Plata to Tierra del Fuego. As with Goos' other output, this is among the most beautifully engraved regional nautical charts. This is the second-earliest specific chart of the region, predating only the work of Johannes van Loon.

A Closer Look

Goos' chart extends from about 30°S to about 62°S, thus presenting an area just north of the Rio de la Plata (on the east coast) and the Chilean bays of La Serena and Coquimbo on the west coast. The chart reaches several degrees beyond the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego. The latter is unambiguously an island, although Goos has marked its southwest coast with a dotted line to emphasize uncertainty. Gerritsz's subsequent 1630 chart and van Loon's 1666 chart present this coast, definitively and incorrectly, with a solid line. The actual, fjord-ridden coastline was not effectively reflected on charts until near the end of the 18th century.

Nevertheless, the chart reveals the efforts of Dutch mariners to span the globe, both via the Strait of Magellan and the Strait of Le Maire. For example, the islands dotting the southern extreme of the map were surveyed during the fateful 1624 voyage of Jacques l'Hermite (1582 - 1624). Also spotted by Dutch explorers, the Seybald Islands appear, representing an early glimpse of the Falkland Islands Archipelago.

Balanced, Beautiful Engraving

The chart's waters are marked with rhumb lines, and the Atlantic is graced with a sailing ship and an elegant compass rose. At the bottom right, two putti recline on the scales of miles: one bearing a surveyor's compass, the other a cross-staff. At the top center, the shell-motif cartouche is flanked by natives and their children, with penguins waddling about. An improbable lion lurks at the lower right while an unbothered child offers up a penguin chick to his father.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved in Amsterdam and published in 1666 by Pieter Goos. The work remained in print for most of the century, but the chart appears in only a single state. We see only five examples of the separate chart in OCLC.