Die Canarich Inseln

Title

Die Canarich Inseln

Description

Map shows the Canary Islands with Teneriffa, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera und El Hierro.

ca. 1648

Artist

Mallet (1630-1706)

Alain Manesson Mallet (1630- 1706 ) was a French cartographer and engineer. He started his career as a soldier in the army of Louis XIV, became a Sergeant-Major in the artillery and an Inspector of Fortifications. He also served under the King of Portugal, before returning to France, and his appointment to the court of Louis XIV. His military engineering and mathematical background led to his position teaching mathematics at court. His major publications were Description de L'Univers (1683) in 5 volumes, and Les Travaux de Mars ou l'Art de la Guerre (1684) in 3 volumes. His Description de L'Universe contains a wide variety of information, including star maps, maps of the ancient and modern world, and a synopsis of the customs, religion and government of the many nations included in his text. It has been suggested that his background as a teacher led to his being concerned with entertaining his readers. This concern manifested itself in the charming harbor scenes and rural landscapes that he included beneath his description of astronomical concepts and diagrams. Mallet himself drew most of the figures that were engraved for this book.

Historical Description

Canary islands with Teneriffa, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera und El Hierro. The archipelago also includes a number of islands and islets: La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Oeste and Roque del Este. In ancient times, the island chain was often referred to as "the Fortunate Isles". The Canary Islands are the most southerly region of Spain and the largest and most populated archipelago of the Macaronesia region. From the 4th century until the rediscovery of the Canary Islands by the Europeans in the 14th century, different cultures developed independently on the individual islands. These were based on the same principles but had so many special features that one cannot speak of a "culture of the Guanches of the Canary Islands". There was the culture of the Majos in Lanzarote, that of the Majoreros in Fuerteventura, that of the Bimbaches in El Hierro, that of the Gomeros in La Gomera, that of the Canarios in Gran Canaria, that of the Benahoaritas in La Palma and that of the Guanches in Tenerife. The naming of the indigenous people of all islands with the designation of the indigenous people of the island of Tenerife as Guanche, which was common for a long time, ignores the differentiated cultural developments on the different islands.