Title: The Marañon or Amazon River with the Mission of the Society of Jesus

Description

This map of the Amazon River is by Samuel Fritz (1654-1728), a Jesuit missionary who mapped the basin of the Amazon River. Born in the province of Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), Fritz became a priest in 1673. He was sent to Quito in present-day Ecuador as a missionary in 1684 and spent the next 40 years ministering to the native people of the Upper Marañon region. He began mapping the region as part of a project to clarify the borders of missionary lands, Spanish lands, and Portuguese lands. He later undertook a project to chart the course of the Amazon. Despite having no training as a cartographer and using only very primitive instruments, Fritz completed a relatively accurate chart of the area. He was the first to follow the Marañon, a tributary of the Amazon, to its source. This map was first printed in Quito in 1707 and later extensively copied in Europe.