Francisco José de Caldas’ long lost Timaná Map

Abstract

The article analyses an unfinished version of Francisco José de Caldas’ Mapa de Timaná, whose first draft was levied and drawn in 1798, was not commented by contemporaries, and has not been recognised nor entitled as such since 1816. Although this version is not the original map –which, as is well known, was handed over by Caldas to Alexander von Humboldt in 1814, who then edited and published it–, certainly Caldas drew it. Stemming from this discovery, here I make some general suggestions regarding the continued search for Caldas’ scant and disarrayed cartographic production, which should focus on unfinished drafts, unaccomplished projects, and local maps, rather than on finished, well-drawn, and general pieces.