Antique Map of South America by Conder, c.1775

€ 347

Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)

Date: 1775
Sheet size: 35 × 43 cm (13.8 × 16.9 in)
Condition: Good
Reference: BG-00611

What the condition grades mean

Excellent: Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good: Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good: Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair: Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.

Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.

About this sheet

South America in the 1770s, titled "South America agreeable to the most approved Maps and Charts, by Thos. Conder", an original copper engraving by Thomas Conder, published in London around 1775. This is a second example of the same map, uncolored.

The map covers the whole continent from the Caribbean coast to the Strait of Magellan, with the Pacific labeled "Pacific Ocean or South Sea" and the Atlantic and Southern Oceans lettered across the sea. The large colonial divisions are named in widely spaced capitals, including Terra Firma, Guiana, the Amazons, Brazil, Paraguay, La Plata and Chili, and the coastline is covered in small place names and capes. The Galápagos Islands appear off the western coast. Scales of British statute miles, French marine leagues and Spanish leagues are drawn at the lower right, and the title is set in a pictorial cartouche at the lower left with a standing figure in native dress.

The sheet records how the continent was understood in the late colonial period, before the independence movements of the early nineteenth century.