Lot 49
49
The Nicaragua Canal, a printed fan, the leaf a hand coloured etched map of Central America with the lake of Nicaragua, on the left Mercury points out the course of the proposed canal to allegories of the Continents, to the right the King of Spain listens to Fame urging him to complete the canal, the margins with a frieze of ships and tritons and a summary of M. La Bastides's investigations, the verso with a map of North America, the bone sticks gilt - 10.5in. (27cm.)., French, 1793
The Nicaragua Canal, a printed fan, the leaf a hand coloured etched map of Central America with the lake of Nicaragua, on the left Mercury points out the course of the proposed canal to allegories of the Continents, to the right the King of Spain listens to Fame urging him to complete the canal, the margins with a frieze of ships and tritons and a summary of M. La Bastides's investigations, the verso with a map of North America, the bone sticks gilt - 10.5in. (27cm.)., French, 1793

Details
The Nicaragua Canal, a printed fan, the leaf a hand coloured etched map of Central America with the lake of Nicaragua, on the left Mercury points out the course of the proposed canal to allegories of the Continents, to the right the King of Spain listens to Fame urging him to complete the canal, the margins with a frieze of ships and tritons and a summary of M. La Bastides's investigations, the verso with a map of North America, the bone sticks gilt - 10.5in. (27cm.)., French, 1793
See Colour Plate on Front Cover
Literature
Schreiber Collection, 133 S.,F 81,82. and French Fan-Leaves 215

Lot Essay

This fan alludes to M. La Bastide's scheme of a canal between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through the lake of Nicaragua: this was never built, the present canal taking a shorter but steeper route to the South through Panama.
In addition to the two copies of the leaf deposited according to the engraved text at the Bibliotheque Nationale- probably now in the map room, there are a pair of leaves and a defective copy of the fan in the British Museum and a fan in the Lennox-Boyd Collection see Susan Mayor, The Letts Guide to Collecting Fans, 1991, p.50

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