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Fine large format map of the Northern part of South Amreica, illustrating the expedition of Spix & Martius in Northern Brazil and the Amazon, undertaken from 1817 to 1820.
The present map represents the upper half of Spix & Martius' fine map, depicting the regions in which they travelled.
Martius and Spix, and the artist Thomas Ender travelled to Brazil with the Austrian Commission, which joined the wedding party of Archduchess Leopoldina of Austria and Dom Pedro de Alcantara, the future Emperor of Brazil. The party left from Trieste on 10 April 1817.
Spix and Martius then time at "Fazenda Mandioca" with Grigori Ivanovitch Langsdorff and then went to a fazenda near Rio Paraiba before returning to Rio. A mounted expedition took them on horseback to Itaguaí (December 1817) through São Paulo state state to the city of São Paulo where they arrived on December 31, 1817. They left on January 9, 1818 for Sorocaba and Itu on to Minas Gerais, then through Camanducaia to cross the Rio Sapucaí for São Gonçalo and Ouro Prêto. On May 1, 1818 they left for Diamantina, Minas Novas and then Montes Claros.
On August 12, 1818 they headed North-North East to Rio Carinhanha, as far as the Serra Geral then returned by Cocos to Carinhanha arriving at Rio de Contas on October 17, 1818, then riding east to cross the Rio Paraguaçu arriving at Salvador on November 10,1818, and leaving on February 18 1819 via Coit and Jacobina. The party then travelled to Piaui, Oeiras where they arrived on May 3, 1818. They departed on May 11, 1818 arriving on May 15, 1818, at São Gonçalo do Amarante, where Martius became seriously ill. Spix had at this time contracted the schistosomiasis from which he eventually died.
On June 3,1819 they arrived in Maranhão to replenish funds and supplies. They then sailed down the Rio Itapicuru to São Luis from where they left on July 20, 1819 for Belém, arriving there on July 25, 1819, having collected specimens at several places in between. They left Belém on August 21, 1819 for an Amazon voyage, up the Tocantins to Breves, arriving in Gurupá on September 9, 1819, and Porto de Moz on the Rio Xingu on September 10, 1819. They spent the the last part of September in Santarém, arriving at Barra do Rio Negro on October 22, 1819 and leaving on November 2, 1819. They reached Tefé, then called Ega, on November 26, 1819, where they separated, each taking a different route.
Spix left Tefé on December 7, 1819, for Solimões and visiting Tabatinga before returning to Manaus on February 7, 1820. He then travelled up the Rio Negro to Moura, Barcelos returning to Manaus on February 26, 1820.
Martius left Tefé on December 17, 1819, ascended Rio Japurá, returning to Manaus on March 11, 1820 where Spix & Martius reunited. They departed for Belém arriving on April 16, 1820 and left for Europe on June 13, 1820.
Dr. Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (1781 - 1826) was a German biologist. From his expedition to Brazil he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. They constitute an important basis for today's National Zoological Collection in Munich.
Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794 - 1868) was a German botanist and explorer.
