Historic Map : Burr Map of Brazil, Guyana, Paraguay and Uruguay, 1834, Vintage Wall Art

This is a first edition hand-colored map of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Guyana by David H. Burr dating to 1834. Issued shortly after the Brazilian war of Independence that freed the massive South America nation from colonial Portuguese control in 1822, this map covers Brazil and Paraguay from Colombia to Rio de la Plata. Throughout, the map identifies various cities, towns, rivers, mountain passes and an assortment of additional topographical details with elevation rendered by hachure. In 1831, Pedro I, the founder and first ruler of the new Empire of Brazil abdicated in favor of his five year old son and left for Europe. Under the weak regency, elected to rule the country until Pedro II came of age as Emperor, Brazil descended into in civil war. In 1840, Pedro II was declared fit to rule and, proving a strong monarch, managed to bring stability and peace to Brazil.

According to Ristow, although Burr is credited on the title page, he left this atlas incomplete. He was appointed as topographer to the U.S. Post Office, and of the siin xty-three maps finally included in this atlas, only completed eight. The rest of the maps were then completed by Illman and Pilbrow in Burr's style. This map was ‘Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1834 by Thomas Illman in the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York', but was not published until the atlas was released in 1835. Published by D. S. Stone in Burr's New Universal Atlas.