Nicolas Sanson (1600-67) is considered by many to be the founder of the French school of cartography. Originally from Abbeville, he was also known as Sanson d’Abbeville. He was trained as a military engineer but became a prolific cartographer who produced over 300 maps. Around 1643, he began publishing maps, working with publisher Pierre Mariette. This 1680 map of the Amazon most likely is a reprint by his son Guillaume (1633-1703), who carried on the family firm after Nicolas’s death. The account referred to in the title is that of Christóbal de Acuña, Nuevo Descubrimiento del Gran Rio de las Amazonas (1641). De Acuña was one of the two Spanish Jesuits who in 1639 accompanied the Portuguese explorer Pedro Teixeira on his return voyage from Quito (in present-day Ecuador) to Pará after he had traveled up the Amazon in 1637-38.