Vanished Worlds, Enduring People

Amédée François Frézier. Relation du Voyage de la Mer du Sud aux Côtes du Chily et du Perou Fait Pendant Les Années 1712, 1713 & 1714. Paris: Chez Jean-Geoffroy Nyon, Etienne Ganeau, Jacque Quillau, 1716. [view]

Frézier, a French engineer, was commissioned by the King of Spain to assess the coastal fortifications of Peru and Chile. His voyage touched the east coast of South America, rounded Cape Horn, and sailed as far north as Lima’s port, Callao. Frézier’s detailed maps and charts provided critical information for future navigators. His drawings and descriptions of Peruvian and Chilean life are equally valuable for their ethnographic and historical details. Frézier copied this illustration of Incan royalty from the first of twelve drawings he saw of Incan leaders made by the Indians of Cuzco. Nicholas Guerard produced the engravings for this edition and the English edition published a year later.