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Paris: Chez Dalmont & Dunod, 1858. Rare the first serious and detailed published proposal for an interoceanic canal across Nicaragua, compiled by the French journalist and speculator Félix Belly, with a large, magnificent, chromolithographed map by the engineer Thomé de Gamond. - This fascinating and historically important work is the first serious, detailed published proposal to build a transoceanic canal across Nicaragua, illustrated by a large and magnificent original map. The dream to build a navigable route across the isthmus of Central America, so connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific oceans, is almost as old as the European presence in the Americas itself. While the Panama Canal was completed in 1914, and that no version of the Nicaragua Canal was ever built, it will surprise some to learn that during much of the second half of the 19th Century, Nicaragua was considered to be a far more promising location for an interoceanic route than Panama. While many proposals had been explored, from the 16th Century onwards, it was onlylate 1850s, when the French duo of Félix Belly, an impresario and journalist, and Thomé de Gamond, an eccentric, but brilliant, engineer, that the first technically credible proposal to construct the canal was published. While Belly and Gamond's grand design, as showcased here, ended shambolically, it inspired the next two generations of canal speculators to keep trying to realize the dream in Nicaragua, even if the interoceanic canal eventually came to be in Panama. It is also important to note that the notion of a Nicaragua canal has seen been revived, as in 2013, a Chinese consortium was given official approval from the Nicaraguan government to construct a canal across the country, in an effort to rival the overburdened Panama Canal. While the Chinese enterprise's plan seems credible on paper, and is technically feasible, it is not yet clear if it will ever be realized, as the financial requirements are awesome. Félix Belly's Nicaraguan Fiasco - Félix Belly (1816-86) was an excellent writersmatist, but was also a terrible project manger and even worse judge of character. He was the first person to make the prospect of a transoceanic canal across Nicaragua seem like a serious possibility; however, his dream was undone by a combination of bad luck and his own personal flaws. Belly's early career shone in dazzling rays of light, as he was one of France's premier political and diplomatic journalists. He resided for some years in Istanbul, where his reports on the Sublime Porte were held as gospel by the French government and intelligentsia. His infectious enthusiasm for all matters of academia and global events saw him feted in European capitals, no less in Berlin by the era's greatest explorer, Alexander von Humboldt. In 1856, Belly became psychologically obsessed with the idea of building an interoceanic canal in Central America, and was determined to go to Nicaragua to set-up the mega-project. It was at this point, that his brilliant career and charmed life went off-track. excessively ex environment of the early Second Empire, he found it easy to find converts to his dream and to raise capital. Moreover, the Emperor Napoleon III was a known enthusiast of such a scheme, and Bally could be assured of his moral, if not financial, support. While his exact role remains unknown, it seems that in 1857 the emperor made Belly an official envoy of the French government in Central America, lending him much-needed legitimacy in the eyes of foreign potentiates. Belly formed an official company and managed to convince the banker Moses Millaud of Crédit Mobilier to back his venture, forwarding him seed money for an exploratory expedition to Nicaragua. SEE OUR WEB PAGE FOR LONGER DESCRIPTI. Seller Inventory # 65469
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Bibliographic Details
Title: NICARAGUA INTEROCEANIC CANAL BOOK WITH ...
Publisher: 4° (28 x 23 cm / 11 x 9 inches): Collation Complete: 90 pp., 1 f., plus 1 large folding chromolithographed map mounted upon original linen (71 x 96 cm / 28 x 38 inches), all bound in original boards with pastedown title and advertisements, spine in original green cloth with gilt title (Very Good, Map generally bright and clean, staining in the folds and in the linen; some text pages with light foxing; last page with small tears in the gutter; covers with some shelf-ware, overall an attractive example
