Outstanding example of Blaeu's map of Guiana including the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, covering modern-day Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. Dutch text on verso.

As with most of Blaeu's maps of the New World, the geographical basis for this map can be traced to the important work by Johannes de Laet, a director of the Dutch West India Company. The map were compiled and issued under the guidance of Hessel Gerritz, cartographer to the Dutch East India Company.

However, Blaeu has increased the size of the map considerable and added several elaborations, including a decorative cartouche on the upper right and a decorative scale on the lower left. 

Of further note is a central feature of the map, "Parime Lacus" or Lake Parime, a mythical lake and also the supposed location of the legend of El Dorado, which is marked on its northwest shore. 

Original colour. [SAM3655]