In 1983, Manuel Alberto Donís Ríos published the Atlas de la historia cartográfica de Venezuela. The current volume is an attempt to deal with Guayana, the Essequibo River region, and the entire history of the dispute between Spain and Venezuela on the one hand, and Great Britain on the other.
A brief introduction is followed by three lengthy chapters, one each on the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. In addition to examining specific maps and time periods within each century, subsections examine Dutch, English, and Spanish cartographic history. Specific attention is given to many aspects of the Spanish-Portuguese treaty of 1750. A brief chapter on matters after 1817 is followed by a few pages of conclusions. The author’s aim is to make a conclusive case for Venezuela’s claims to the Essequibo region. While Donís Ríos is absolutely convinced by the evidence he presents, I am not.
A listing of all maps of the region located, dating from the time of Columbus and Juan de la Cosa to the early nineteenth century, with lengthy explanations and justifications does not, in fact, make the case. The author seems singularly unaware of the work being done in the field of the history of cartography, and cites only four works in the field, including two by eminent scholars; but the citations are for matters of historical fact and not for cartographic history.
Those working in the history of cartography usually come to the field from another discipline—most often history or geography—but learn and use a new and additional set of professional skills. Donís Ríos has not done this; his work lacks any understanding of, or appreciation for, the history of cartography. The book is useful as a record of the maps made of Guayana and the Essequibo region, but lacks entirely the critical analysis so necessary for real cartographic history. Maps most often derive from written descriptive materials, but the author of this work wishes to derive territorial claims from maps and not from the texts that provided the base data for the maps.
A cartographic index, listing 166 items, is a useful addendum to the text; the 50 reproductions of maps are of little use because of substantial reductions in size from the originals, and because of the lack of clarity. The volume is of interest and use as a summary, both historical and cartographical, of a long controversy over borders and territory, but is not the final word on the subject.
