Isles des Larrons

  • Translation

Article ID ASS0631

Title

Isles des Larrons

Description

Map shows the Marianen island in the pacific ocean. Mariana Islands.

Year

ca. 1680

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

Guam is the largest and southernmost island of the Mariana Islands archipelago in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is a foreign territory of the United States. The capital is Hagatna, formerly Agana. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to discover the archipelago, formerly also known as Ladrones (Ladrons), and his sailors named it Islas de Ladrones (Island of Thieves: "Thieves' Islands") because of thefts by islanders who had come on board. The Marianas became the hub of the Spanish Asian fleet with the Manila Galleon. On Guam, the necessary infrastructure was developed to supply the galleons. Later, in honor of Maria Anna of Austria, Archduchess of Austria, the Spanish renamed the archipelago "Islas Marianas", a name that has survived to this day.

Place of Publication Paris
Dimensions (cm)15 x 10
ConditionVery good
Coloringoriginal colored
TechniqueCopper print

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