"SPAIN REMAINED UNRECONCILED TO THE LOSS OF HER FORMER COLONY UNTIL… 1844": LARGE MAP OF CHILE BY JEAN ALEXANDRE BUCHON, BEAUTIFULLY HAND-COLORED, PRINTED IN PARIS IN 1825

(BUCHON, Jean Alexandre). Carte Geographique, Statistique et Historique du Chili. Paris: B. de Beaupre, (1825). Original folio leaf (21 by 27 inches unfolded) . $450.

Buchon's 1825 large copper-engraved map of Chile, vividly hand-colored, richly detailing the Andes, the new nation's major cities and ports, with surrounding text in French incorporating the latest information about the newly independent nation.

This impressive 1825 map of Chile, richly hand-colored, was printed in Paris within a decade of the new nation's official declaration of independence. The map was created by Jean Alexandre Buchon, who incorporated the latest geographical information available and based his map on Carey & Lea's 1822-23 Complete Historical, Chronological and Geographical American Atlas. At the time, the first countries to offer diplomatic recognition to Chile were "Portugal (August 1821) and the United States (March 1822)… France extended recognition in September 1830; Great Britain intimated its willingness to do the same in July 1831… Spain remained unreconciled to the loss of her former colony until a treaty concluded in April 1844, but for much of the rest of Europe the new Chilean nation-state now existed in theory as well as in fact" (Collier and Sater, History of Chile, 39-40).

Buchon's large copper-engraved map measures 9 by 15 inches and is centered in three columns of French text (overall measuring 21 by 27 inches). The detailed hand-colored map identifies Chile's many ports and river deltas, and features small crosses denoting dangerous rocky shoals. Buchon's handsome representation of the Andes names over 15 volcanoes and shows the mountain pass that leads to and from Santiago. The surrounding text describes the new nation's history, its landscape, major rivers and important routes, its climate, religion and commerce, and describes its major cities such as Valparaiso and its capital, Santiago.

Map and text fresh and bright with only faint foldline. In fine condition.