DUVAL, P. /JOLLAIN. - La Guaiane ou Coste Sauvage, autrement El Dorado, et Pais des Amazones…

Extremly rare edition of Du Val's map separately published by Jollain in 1668, referencing the name "El Dorado" in the title of the map. The title translates as follows : " Guaina or the Savage Coast, also known as El Dorado and the Country of the Amazons".

The map demonstrates the contemporary importance of the legend of El Dorado, which is featured in the map title, with Guaiana referred to as "Royaume du Roy doré" (Kingdom of the Golden King). The mythical Lac Parimbe is also illustrated, with El Dorado (Manoa) very prominently located on the far western shores of the map. The map demonstrates the contemporary importance of the legend of El Dorado, which is featured in the map title, with Guaiana referred to as "Royaume du Roy doré" (Kingdom of the Golden King). The mythical Lac Parimbe is also illustrated, with El Dorado (Manoa) very prominently located on the far western shores of the map.
El Dorado was originally El Hombre Dorado (the golden man), El Indio Dorado (the golden Indian), or El Rey Dorado (the golden king). This is the mythical name used by Europeans to describe a tribal chief of the Muisca native people of Colombia, South America, who as an initiation rite, covered himself with gold dust and dived into Lake Guatavita. Imagined as a place, El Dorado went from a city to a kingdom and an empire of this legendary golden king. In pursuit of the legend, Spanish conquistadors Francisco Orellana and Gonzalo Pizarro departed from Quito (now capital of Ecuador) in 1541, in an expedition towards the Amazon Basin, as a result of which Orellana became the first known person to navigate the entire length of the Amazon River..

The mouth of the Amazon River is depicted in great (if inaccurate) detail, with annotations reflecting the first navigation of the length of the Amazon from Peru and the Andes in the west, to the mouth of the River, undertaken in an expedition of 1541-42 by Francisco de Orellana. The map refers to the Amazon River as "R.de S. Juan de las Amazones o d'Oregliana", reflecting the time period for which the map was briefly named for Orellana.