The Mapmaker’s Wife
See Isabel’s Route Today: The Upper Amazon that Isabel Godin traveled through in 1769-1770, where she ended up lost and abandoned, remains a pristine wilderness. To research The Mapmaker's Wife, Robert Whitaker retraced her path from Riobamba to Andoas. (Following Isabel.
Read Jean Godin’s Letter: In 1773, Isabel’s husband, Jean Godin, wrote a letter describing Isabel’s travails in the upper Amazon. You can read that letter here. (Jean’s Letter.)
View Historical Images: The French Academy of Sciences mounted the expedition to the equator in order to resolve a fierce debate over the exact shape of the earth. Charles Marie de La Condamine and the other scientists left France in 1735, and didn’t finish their measurements in the Andes until 1743. The illustrations from the books published by La Condamine and the other expedition members provide a sense of the mission’s dramatic nature. (The Expedition.)
Visit the Bobonaza: Isabel Godin traveled from Riobamba down the Bobonaza River. Although this remains a remote region, it is possible today to visit the upper part of the river, and in particular to visit Sarayacu, a large indigenous community where the people have maintained many of their traditional ways. (Visit the Bobonaza.)
(Please be patient: Pages with photos and the pdf. of Jean Godin’s letter may take a little while to load.)
Selected by the American Library Association as one of the best biographies of 2004.
The Mapmaker's Wife tells the extraordinary story of Isabel Godin, the first woman to travel down the length of the Amazon. Her journey brought an end to the first scientific expedition to the New World, which was led by Charles Marie de La Condamine. The French Academy of Sciences called the mission, which began in 1735, the “greatest expedition the world has ever known.”
