HUMBOLDT ALEXANDER VON: (1769-1859) German Natural Scientist, Geographer & Explorer. A very ...

HUMBOLDT ALEXANDER VON: (1769-1859) German Natural Scientist, Geographer & Explorer. A very fine, rare manuscript line chart signed, A v Humboldt, one page, oblong 8vo, n.p. (Spain), 1799, in French. In his typically small, neat hand Humboldt has recorded a profile of Peninsular Spain from the southeast to the northwest, from the coast of Valencia to that of Gelice, recording several major towns and cities including Medina del Campo, El Escorial, Madrid and Aranjuez and their height above sea level, also recording some of the latitudes and noting that the scale of distance is 1:100. Signed and annotated by Humboldt beneath the chart, also noting a comparison with the height above sea level of several other European cities and landmarks including Munich, Brocken, Schneekoppe (Snezka) and Mount Vesuvius. Rare in this form. Some very light, extremely minor age wear and two very small areas of paper loss to two corners, not affecting the chart, text or signature. About VG

In the first half of 1799, at the time of preparing the present chart, Humboldt (accompanied by the botanist and physician Aime Bonpland) found himself in Madrid where he sought authorisation to travel to Spain's realms in the Americas. Receiving a positive response to his proposal, Humboldt was presented to King Charles IV and subsequently granted access to crown officials and written documentation on Spain's empire. Armed with authorisation from the King, Humboldt and Bonpland set sail on 5^th June 1799 on their Spanish American expedition which would last until 1804.

Humboldt's historic expedition is now regarded as having laid the foundation of the sciences of physical geography, plant geography and meteorology. On a personal level, the geographer's decades' long endeavour to publish the results of the expedition resulted not only in multiple volumes, but also drew him to the attention of the reading public with popular densely illustrated, condensed versions of his work in multiple languages. Importantly it also secured Humboldt's international reputation in scientific circles.