Maps of the Captaincy-General of Guatemala

Maps of the Captaincy-General of Guatemala

This wonderful compendium of three historical maps present the spirit of the Spanish colonies in Central America in the 18th century. A sheet from 1716 presents the province of Nicaragua in a marvelous watercolor pen drawing. The second map from the year 1738 shows the course of the Rio Martina, one of the most powerful rivers in the center of Costa Rica, in an unusual format. Finally, the third map presents the provinces around the Cordillera de Talamanca, in modern Costa Rica and Panama, in a depiction from 1781. A marvelous overview of the Central American region that consists of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, which invites historical study and indulgence!

Exotic Nicaragua

The three closely related yet completely different maps of Central America give an exciting glimpse into the development of the Spanish colonies in the 18th century. The 1716 depiction of the province of Nicaragua presents a part of the modern Central American country. The “lagoons and rivers” of the province are presented, and so modern Lake Nicaragua, from which the Rio San Juan flows into the Caribbean. The English and Indian settlements of “Punta Gorda” and “Mosquito” were identified. It was thereby concerned with the modern Costa de los Mosquitos, the so-called Mosquito Coast of Caribbean Nicaragua, which was under British colonial rule. The watercolor pen drawing in a format of 31 x 43 cm is a work by D. Sebastián de Aranciuia Isasi, the governor of Nicaragua. It is presented a fine drawing from a skillful hand, wonderfully painted in blue and green.

Rivers in Costa Rica

The second gem of the compendium is a map with the course of the Rio Martina from the year 1738. It presents the course of the river and its mouth in a representation that includes the surrounding regions. The Rio Martina is a river in the center of Costa Rica, the exotic land in Central America that borders Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. The colorful map is presented with a marvelous depiction of countless green trees and palms, blue rivers, and two schematic mountain chains. The map was extended to the unusually long format of 35 x 65 cm due to a ground plan for a fort to be built at the mouth of the river.

A Central American Mountain Range

The third map presents the provinces around Cordillera de Talamanca. The 1781 map shows a handsome geographical depiction of the mountain range in Costa Rica and Panama, with individual drawings of settlements and rivers. The bordering sea is depicted geographically correctly to the left and right of the land, the mar del norte and the mar al sur respectively, but it is actually the Pacific and Caribbean that border the land to the west and east. The sheet has a format of 30 x 48 cm and is a work by the surveyor Josef de Rivera Gálvez.

Geographic Voyages of Discovery

The three maps from the 18th century, which are housed today in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, give a wonderful overview of this region of the modern Central American states of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Perusal and study of the marvelous geographic depictions allows the spirit of this exciting time to rise from the dead and radiate a hint of exotic atmosphere!