Text engraving showing a bay on the Island of Ternate, an island in the Maluku Islands (Moluccas) of eastern Indonesia. Above the map a lettered key (A-E). Text engraving from "Premier livre de l'histoire de la navigation aux Indes Orientales, par les hollandois, et des choses a eux advenues . . . ", being the classic account of the first Dutch voyage to the East Indies under the command of Cornelis de Houtman. the expedition left in 1595, after Holland had achieved independence from Spain and c...

From the very rare Galle edition of the Ortelius Atlas, published after 1612. Fine map of Geldria and Limburg, prepared by Christian s'Grooten. Very fine title cartouche lower right with artist brushes and palettes as well as an owl gazing in a round mirror.East to the top.

It is a charming book illustrated with portraits of Willem of Orange and Prince Maurits and eight engraved armorial plates. Followed by thirthy engraved views or scenes of Dutch cities, most with Latin text at the foot.The plates include views of Amsterdam, Leiden, a skating scene, and Prince Maurits sailing wagon. The Anatomy Theatre of the University of Leiden with a finely attired man looking at the dissected body of a man lying on the central table, surrounded by concentric benches with hum...

Showing all 17 Provinces of the Netherlands before the split between Spain and the Protestant Provinces under the House of Orange.The map was first published. At the same time, the war of independence was still being fought against Philip II. With columns of figures on either side and surmounted by eight city prospects. A famous and most decorative item.A fourth state published by Thomas Basset and Richard Chiswell. The date has been removed and Speed's name has been added to the title cartouche...

Coastline of Venezuela with little interior development. Including Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, etc. Scarce map prepared by Hessel Gerritsz (1581-1632), former apprentice of Willem Blaeu, and Blaeu’s predecessor as chief cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Gerritsz enjoys a very high reputation for his critical approach towards his sources.Most of Gerritsz’ work exists only in manuscript, and these maps published by de Laet, are among the only printed Gerritsz maps available to the co...

A brutal scene depicting native Indians tying down Spanish men and pouring liquid gold down their throats. Scenes of cannibalism in the background.In 1631 Johann Ludwig Gottfried, inherited the Theodor De Bry’s publishing firm, among the illustrated accounts of the expeditions of Magellan, Columbus, Vespucci, Cortes, Balboa, Raleigh, Drake, Smith, and many others.Gottfried issued together with Matthaeus Merian a one-volume condensation "Newe Welt Vnd Americanische Historien/ Jnhaltende Warhaff...

Two engravings. [421b] When the natives of those parts, they were bathed in a cold stream, then chased round a blazing fire until they had dried out. Then they were put to bed and great care was taken to ensure their loins were dry. Vomiting was overcome by fasting for three or four days and paying careful attention to diet., which rarely included meat, except for human flesh, of which they were inordinately fond. In fact they would even fatten their enemy captives before eating them and seemed ...

Scarce print with a German text sheet showing the French torching and looting Chiorera. From de Bry's "Great American Voyages". Johann Theodor de Bry (1561-1623) was born in Liège in 1561, the eldest son of the engraver and publisher Theodor de Bry. It was from his father that Johann learned his craft, producing both engravings and etchings. In 1588, the Lutheran De Bry family settled in Frankfurt am Main, a safe haven for Lutherans at this time of religious discord. Together with his father an...

Scarce print with German text sheet showing the Dutch attack on Praia.On 27th June 1589, Simon de Cordes left Holland with five ships, bound for the Magellan Straits. On reaching Santiago - one of the Cape Verde Islands, they decided to loot the fortress at Praia. This stood on top of a high rock whose only approach was by a narrow stairway with 175 steps. At the time the fortress was occupied by the Portuguese, under a Spanish commander. On landing, however, the Dutch were entertained by some o...

Scarce print with a German text sheet showing Cavendish’s fleet anchor at a place called Morro Moreno, on the coast of Chile. The Indians came down from the high cliffs to greet the voyagers and brought with them firewood and fresh water as a sign of friendship. Later the English were taken to their homes, which were made from two sticks in the ground, with others laid across and covered with straw. The whole family, including children, lay underneath on animal skins. They were skilled fisherm...

Two engravings. [514] On 29th May, 1615, Spilbergen’s fleet anchored further north, off an island called Santa María that was separated by a narrow stretch of water (A), from Punta Lavapié on the mainland. Four of the ships (I) anchored in the bay, while the fifth (H) anchored closer. The Dutch went ashore in small boats (F), where they saw Spanish soldiers on horseback (B), so they arranged themselves for battle (C). There were several confrontations (E), during which many Dutchmen died but...

Scarce print with a German text sheet. Captain Weert and the chief ate modestly on roast plantain, smoked fish and wine fermented from palm, bought by a local woman. However, when Weert ordered Spanish wine to be brought from his ship, the chief forgot his temperance and drank so much he had to be carried to rest. Weert had to stay the night but returned to his ship in the morning.On the way back he was confronted by an ugly, naked woman carrying ashes in a box. After circling him three times an...

Scarce print with a German text sheet.On certain feast-days the Indian cacique, while beating a drum, led a procession of his people to the worship of their idol, which was a strange hybrid-like creature with several heads. The men were painted black, red and yellow and came first, dressed in parrot feathers and necklaces of seashells. The women, decorated with jewellery, followed with their naked daughters. When all were assembled, the cacique inserted a stake into his throat, which made him vo...

Murder of Dominican monks in Cumana or Cubagua Island in what is now Venezuela. Scarce print (150x177mm.) on a German text sheet taken from a first edition of Johann Ludwig Gottfried's "Newe Welt Vnd Americanische Historien/ Jnhaltende Warhafftige vnd volkommene Beschreibungen Aller West-Indianischen Landschafften…" published by M.Merian in 1631.

Two engravings. [470] The funeral of an Inca king was a ceremony of great splendor. After digging a large pit, the Indians would decorate the corpse with gold and silver then bury it with many fine ornaments, along with good food and wine to help it on its way into the next world. Benzoni so described the burial of Huayna-Capac, whose grave he said was on the border of the province of Quito. When the Spanish first went to Peru, they discovered and pillaged many such graves.[469] Much of Ecuador ...

Scarce print with a German text sheet. Many Black slaves, weary of ill treatment, managed to escape Spanish captivity and freely wandered the island, breaking into prisons and recruiting other slaves. Soon they outnumbered the Spanish and sought revenge by killing some of them. After a meeting at the governor’s palace in Santo Domingo, many Spanish soldiers were sent out to quell the rebellion by catching the Blacks by night and hanging them from trees. The Blacks learnt from this to keep a lo...

Almagro returned to Cuzco, disillusioned and embittered from his long and fruitless journey south into Chile, where he had been searching for further wealth. This led to a split in the control of Peru between the Pizarrists, who held the coastal regions, and the Almagrists who held the Cordillera. Further quarreling culminated in a battle just outside Cuzco in 1538, known as Las Salinas, which the Pizarrists eventually won. Almagro was subsequently garrotted and his captain, Orgóñez, beheaded....

Rare map of the Low Countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg after Tassin and offered for sale by the publisher N. Berey.

Second state of this rare and decorative plan of Amsterdam with Visscher's imprint. With a panoramic view seen from the IJ and further insets of Council House, The Exchange, House of the Dutch East India Company and House of the West India Company. This state figures the fourth extension with the projected growth of the city added to the left half of the sheet; on the west side, the "Realeneiland" has been extended, above the image of the west India House, the imprint of Visscher has been added,...

A fine map of South East Asia, extending from India to Tibet to Japan to New Guinea. Formosa appears on this map, and even parts of Japan and Australia are seen. A handsome map in the typically baroque Dutch style.Noteworthy for being the second map to include the discoveries made in New Guinea and northern Queensland, Australia by the Dutch vessel Duyfken in 1605-06. Under the command of Willem Janzoon, the Duyfken explored the eastern shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria, just below the Cape York ...