Condamine, Charles Marie de La (sold)
Charles Marie de La Condamine (January 28, 1701 – February 4, 1774) was a French explorer, geographer, and mathematician. He was a contemporary and friend of Voltaire, with whom he successfully gamed the French lottery. He took part in the French Geodesic Mission, tasked with performing measurements near the equator in order to test Newton's theory regarding the oblate shape of the globe. In conjunction with similar measurements performed by an expedition to Lapland, by Maupertuis, Clairaut, and Le Monnier, the Geodesic Mission was able to declare Newton's theory correct. This project resulted in the first map of the Amazon region based on astronomical observation. (Condamine also produced, based on experiences in this journey, the first scientific paper on the properties of rubber.)
The First Scienific Survey of the Andes Mountains and Central Ecuador
Carte de la Meridiene mesurée au Royaume de Quito; Par ordre du Roy notre Souverain pour parvenir à la Connoissance du Dégré Teirestre et de la figure de la teire par D. Jorge Juan et D. Ant. de Ulloa en 1744./ Karte von der gemessenen Mittagslinie in dem Koenigreiche Quito Auf Befehl Sr. Koenigl. Majest. in Spanien zur Erkentniss des rechten Gehalts eines Erdgrades und der Gestalt der Erde von dem Hrn Georg Juan und dem Hrn Antonio de Ulloa im Jahre 1744 zu Stande gebracht.
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- Digital Map Information
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- DPI: 600
- File Size: 20.88 MB
- File Type: ZIP / TIFF
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This is a rare, 1752 map of Ecuador's La Sierra region, from Carchi Province in the north to Cañar Province in the south. It encompasses one full degree of arc along the Quito meridian, and represents the first scientific survey of this high Andes valley. It appeared in the 1752 French and German editions of Antonio de Ulloa and Jorge Juan's Relacion Historica del Viaje a la America Meridional, a landmark work of South American geography, culture, history and science produced to report the two scientist's labors for the French Geodesic Mission, which were carried out in what is modern Ecuador over ten years. Specifically, the map shows the triangulations performed by Juan (his work indicated by solid lines) and Ulloa (dotted lines) during the expedition. It mapped Ecuador's Central Valley with unparalleled precision, marking rivers, towns and major peaks from El Angel, to Quito, to El Tambo. Towns of various sizes are differentiated with a key; relief is shown in hachure. Forests and plains are shown pictorially. Roads are marked with a dotted line, and bridges over rivers are indicated as well. (more details)
Comparing two groundbreaking maps of the Amazon on one sheet
Carte du Cours du Maragnon ou de la Grande Riviere des Amazones Dans sa partie navigable depuis Jaen de Bracamoros jusqu'a son Embouchure et qui comprend la Province de Quito, et la Côte de la Guïane depuis le Cap de Nord jusqu'à Esséquebè.
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- Digital Map Information
- Suitable for large format printing
- DPI: 600
- File Size: 6.01 MB
- File Type: ZIP / TIFF
- ICC color profile embedded
- Delivered instantly via download link
This is a fascinating 1780 map of the Amazon river basin, spanning the breadth of the South American continent, embracing Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. It displays the mapping of the great river produced in 1743 by the French Geodesic Mission under Charles Marie de La Condamine, which still represented the state of the art. This exhaustive mapping of the Amazon and its tributaries is shown overlaying another map of the Amazon, this one executed in 1707 by the Jesuit Father Samuel Fritz. His mapping of the Amazon had been the first accurate one to be produced, and so to have it compare so poorly to Condamine's was to present a flourish on behalf of modern, French scientific geography. (more details)