Map of South America 1792 by Elwe – Hand-Colored Antique Dutch Engraving
€ 1 700
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1792
Mapmaker / artist
J.B. Elwe (Artist)
Technique
Engraved
Sheet size
54.5 × 65 cm (21.5 × 25.6 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-02119
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.
Condition
Very good condition with strong color and clear plate lines. Minor age toning and browning to the margins, no tears or repairs. A clean, well-preserved example of late 18th-century Dutch cartography. Small tear at bottom of the middle-fold.
About this sheet
South America in a Dutch engraving, "L'Amerique Meridionale divisée en ses principales parties", published at Amsterdam by Jan Barend Elwe, dated MDCCXCII (1792). It is a copperplate engraving with hand coloring, based on French cartography, and the old description names Guillaume Delisle as the source.
The continent is divided into its regions and colonial territories, with Brazil at the right, Peru and the Guianas to the north, Paraguay and the Río de la Plata at the center, and Chile and Patagonia to the south. Rivers and mountains are engraved in detail, and the interior is crossed by the Amazon system. A narrow part of Central America appears at the top. The sea names are in French, including "Mer du Sud ou Pacifique", "Mer du Nord" and "Mer Magellanique", and the sheet is graduated and ruled with a grid.
Two large cartouches carry the lettering. The title stands at lower left, topped with a crowned shield and flanked by native figures. A decorative key at the right is framed by palm trees, a hanging hammock, monkeys and a parrot, in the style of the tropical imagery that mapmakers used for the New World.
