Large map of South America by the great French cartographer, Guillaume de l’Isle. Noted for his commitment to scientific accuracy, de l’Isle scrupulously avoided speculation and unnecessary ornamentation, preferring instead to leave blank areas of the map as yet unexplored. Extensive detail is provided for the coasts, but interior Brazil and Patagonia are largely blank. There are voyage tracks for Magellan, Drake, Schouten, Medana and others. Numerous comments provide interesting information on local populations, geographical features and discoveries. We see a small, indefinite landmass in the vicinity of Grand Island, which de l’Isle notes skeptically as a possible tip of the Southern Continent. From de l’Isle’s untitled atlas, published in Paris (with the revised address of le Quai de l’Horloge.)

Ref.: Tooley (America), p. 26, #66.