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The Maps in De Bry
- By The Map Collector
- Published 1 December 1979
- Maps
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The Map Collector
The Map Collector, initiated by Peter Scott and Valerie G. Newby, was a journal on historical cartography published every quarter. The first issue appeared in 1997 and continued for nearly 20 years. After 74 issues the last copy appeared in Spring 1996. Mrs. Valerie G. Newby, is presently editor of the IMCoS Journal.
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'The cornerstone of every library of Americana ... lavishly illustrated and replete with maps' - Boles Penrose, Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance.
From the day over twenty years ago when he first saw an example of the beautifully illustrated book by de Bry of early voyages and travels in the sixteenth century, John Garratt was fascinated. He decided there and then to go further than any bibliographer and this article on the maps forms part of his exhaustive research over those twenty years. Mr Garratt recently retired after forty six years in the antiquarian book trade, the last nineteen years of which he was with Henry Stevens Son and Stiles in London and Farnham.
by John G. Garratt
THE COLLECTION OF early voyages compiled and published by the family of de Bry between 1590 and 1634 is one of the most important of its kind, and at the same time a nightmare for bibliographers.
There are two distinct series - the Grands Voyages, so-called because the pages are taller and wider than the second, which is called the Petits Voyages. The general title is Peregrinationum in lndiam Oriental et lndiam Occidentales but the work is usually referred to simply as 'de Bry'. The first series (Grands Voyages) consists of accounts of North and South America and the second series (Petits Voyages) relates tales of voyages mainly to the East Indies and the arctic regions.
The inspiration came from Thomas Hariot's A Briefe and true report of the newfound land in Virginia, published in London in 1588, and being an account of the colony settled by Raleigh. The artist, JohIi White, had accompanied Raleigh and made a large number of magnificent drawings and watercolours, many of which are in the British Library. Either Hariot contacted de Bry or de Bry contacted Hariot, but the outcome was the first part of the Grands Voyages, a magnificent volume of text and engravings plus a map, a plate of Adam and Eve and five plates of ancient Picts. All, except the Adam plate, were engraved after White's drawings. The work was issued in 1590 in four languages - English, French, German and Latin. The English and French are now the rarest.
Theodor de Bry, who was an engraver, printseller, bookseller and publisher, followed this work with Part II of Grands Voyages, a volume dealing with the French exploits in Florida. This included a set of engravings after the drawings of Jacques le Moyne de Morgues, a friend of both White and Hariot, an engraving of Noah's Ark and a map of Florida. This part was issued in German and Latin only as were all succeeding parts. By the time of his death in 1598 de Bry had issued six parts. He was succeeded by his widow and two sons Johann Th~odor and Johann Israel, who published the seventh, eighth and ninth parts - the last in 1600. After an interruption, the parts were recommenced in 1619 and continued until 1624 by another member of the family, Matheus Merian, who also completed the last of the fourteen parts in German by 1630 and the Latin thirteenth and final part. All the parts in Latin are the German texts translated into another language.
The Petits Voyages, thirteen parts in German and twelve in Latin, were started in 1598 by Theodor and completed in 1628 by Matheus Merian. Almost every part was profusely illustrated with engravings on single sheets with text beneath and the versos blank. The quality of the engravings varies, those in the earlier parts being the most distinguished. In the Petits Voyages there is a certain amount of plagiarism from previously published voyages.
So a complete set of 'de Bry' consists of fifty four parts. Fourteen parts in German, thirteen in Latin, one in English and one in French in the Grands Voyages. Thirteen parts in German, and twelve in Latin for the Petits Voyages. Two other, unillustrated parts were also issued as an appendix to each of the two volumes.
Within most of the parts great variations occur as a number were published in separate editions and within these editions again there are, at times, several states. For instance, the set made up by Henry Newton Stevens now at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich consists of 186 separate items. As reprintings occurred, particularly in the later parts, so a number of the engravings were re-engraved or reversed. These factors together with the textual variations of the different parts make a complete set of de Bry in the original state a bibliographical nightmare. The most reliable of the bibliographies is that by Ludovic Crawford published in 1884 but even here there are omissions and there is still a need for a definitive bibliography. However, in the listing of the maps, the problems are not so immense as little or no attempt was made to alter originals in the light of further geographical knowledge and variations that do occur are mainly confined to alteration of cartouches, spelling and style of lettering.
In the following list, a number of maps which according to Crawford should be included in certain parts, have been omitted where he has been proved to be in error. Nor have engravings of a landscape nature, classified by Crawford as maps, been included, nor quasi-landscape maps that are enumerated amongst the plates. Maps that are complete in themselves, however, have been listed even though they may have been issued as part of the text.
THE COLLECTION OF early voyages compiled and published by the family of de Bry between 1590 and 1634 is one of the most important of its kind, and at the same time a nightmare for bibliographers.
There are two distinct series - the Grands Voyages, so-called because the pages are taller and wider than the second, which is called the Petits Voyages. The general title is Peregrinationum in lndiam Oriental et lndiam Occidentales but the work is usually referred to simply as 'de Bry'. The first series (Grands Voyages) consists of accounts of North and South America and the second series (Petits Voyages) relates tales of voyages mainly to the East Indies and the arctic regions.
The inspiration came from Thomas Hariot's A Briefe and true report of the newfound land in Virginia, published in London in 1588, and being an account of the colony settled by Raleigh. The artist, JohIi White, had accompanied Raleigh and made a large number of magnificent drawings and watercolours, many of which are in the British Library. Either Hariot contacted de Bry or de Bry contacted Hariot, but the outcome was the first part of the Grands Voyages, a magnificent volume of text and engravings plus a map, a plate of Adam and Eve and five plates of ancient Picts. All, except the Adam plate, were engraved after White's drawings. The work was issued in 1590 in four languages - English, French, German and Latin. The English and French are now the rarest.
Theodor de Bry, who was an engraver, printseller, bookseller and publisher, followed this work with Part II of Grands Voyages, a volume dealing with the French exploits in Florida. This included a set of engravings after the drawings of Jacques le Moyne de Morgues, a friend of both White and Hariot, an engraving of Noah's Ark and a map of Florida. This part was issued in German and Latin only as were all succeeding parts. By the time of his death in 1598 de Bry had issued six parts. He was succeeded by his widow and two sons Johann Th~odor and Johann Israel, who published the seventh, eighth and ninth parts - the last in 1600. After an interruption, the parts were recommenced in 1619 and continued until 1624 by another member of the family, Matheus Merian, who also completed the last of the fourteen parts in German by 1630 and the Latin thirteenth and final part. All the parts in Latin are the German texts translated into another language.
The Petits Voyages, thirteen parts in German and twelve in Latin, were started in 1598 by Theodor and completed in 1628 by Matheus Merian. Almost every part was profusely illustrated with engravings on single sheets with text beneath and the versos blank. The quality of the engravings varies, those in the earlier parts being the most distinguished. In the Petits Voyages there is a certain amount of plagiarism from previously published voyages.
So a complete set of 'de Bry' consists of fifty four parts. Fourteen parts in German, thirteen in Latin, one in English and one in French in the Grands Voyages. Thirteen parts in German, and twelve in Latin for the Petits Voyages. Two other, unillustrated parts were also issued as an appendix to each of the two volumes.
Within most of the parts great variations occur as a number were published in separate editions and within these editions again there are, at times, several states. For instance, the set made up by Henry Newton Stevens now at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich consists of 186 separate items. As reprintings occurred, particularly in the later parts, so a number of the engravings were re-engraved or reversed. These factors together with the textual variations of the different parts make a complete set of de Bry in the original state a bibliographical nightmare. The most reliable of the bibliographies is that by Ludovic Crawford published in 1884 but even here there are omissions and there is still a need for a definitive bibliography. However, in the listing of the maps, the problems are not so immense as little or no attempt was made to alter originals in the light of further geographical knowledge and variations that do occur are mainly confined to alteration of cartouches, spelling and style of lettering.
In the following list, a number of maps which according to Crawford should be included in certain parts, have been omitted where he has been proved to be in error. Nor have engravings of a landscape nature, classified by Crawford as maps, been included, nor quasi-landscape maps that are enumerated amongst the plates. Maps that are complete in themselves, however, have been listed even though they may have been issued as part of the text.
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COPYRIGHT Winter 1989 The Map Collector, All rights reserved.
No portion of this article nor the accompanying illustrations can or may be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
From the day over twenty years ago when he first saw an example of the beautifully illustrated book by de Bry of early voyages and travels in the sixteenth century, John Garratt was fascinated. He decided there and then to go further than any bibliographer and this article on the maps forms part of his exhaustive research over those twenty years. Mr Garratt recently retired after forty six years in the antiquarian book trade, the last nineteen years of which he was with Henry Stevens Son and Stiles in London and Farnham.
by John G. Garratt
THE COLLECTION OF early voyages compiled and published by the family of de Bry between 1590 and 1634 is one of the most important of its kind, and at the same time a nightmare for bibliographers.
There are two distinct series - the Grands Voyages, so-called because the pages are taller and wider than the second, which is called the Petits Voyages. The general title is Peregrinationum in lndiam Oriental et lndiam Occidentales but the work is usually referred to simply as 'de Bry'. The first series (Grands Voyages) consists of accounts of North and South America and the second series (Petits Voyages) relates tales of voyages mainly to the East Indies and the arctic regions.
The inspiration came from Thomas Hariot's A Briefe and true report of the newfound land in Virginia, published in London in 1588, and being an account of the colony settled by Raleigh. The artist, JohIi White, had accompanied Raleigh and made a large number of magnificent drawings and watercolours, many of which are in the British Library. Either Hariot contacted de Bry or de Bry contacted Hariot, but the outcome was the first part of the Grands Voyages, a magnificent volume of text and engravings plus a map, a plate of Adam and Eve and five plates of ancient Picts. All, except the Adam plate, were engraved after White's drawings. The work was issued in 1590 in four languages - English, French, German and Latin. The English and French are now the rarest.
Theodor de Bry, who was an engraver, printseller, bookseller and publisher, followed this work with Part II of Grands Voyages, a volume dealing with the French exploits in Florida. This included a set of engravings after the drawings of Jacques le Moyne de Morgues, a friend of both White and Hariot, an engraving of Noah's Ark and a map of Florida. This part was issued in German and Latin only as were all succeeding parts. By the time of his death in 1598 de Bry had issued six parts. He was succeeded by his widow and two sons Johann Th~odor and Johann Israel, who published the seventh, eighth and ninth parts - the last in 1600. After an interruption, the parts were recommenced in 1619 and continued until 1624 by another member of the family, Matheus Merian, who also completed the last of the fourteen parts in German by 1630 and the Latin thirteenth and final part. All the parts in Latin are the German texts translated into another language.
The Petits Voyages, thirteen parts in German and twelve in Latin, were started in 1598 by Theodor and completed in 1628 by Matheus Merian. Almost every part was profusely illustrated with engravings on single sheets with text beneath and the versos blank. The quality of the engravings varies, those in the earlier parts being the most distinguished. In the Petits Voyages there is a certain amount of plagiarism from previously published voyages.
So a complete set of 'de Bry' consists of fifty four parts. Fourteen parts in German, thirteen in Latin, one in English and one in French in the Grands Voyages. Thirteen parts in German, and twelve in Latin for the Petits Voyages. Two other, unillustrated parts were also issued as an appendix to each of the two volumes.
Within most of the parts great variations occur as a number were published in separate editions and within these editions again there are, at times, several states. For instance, the set made up by Henry Newton Stevens now at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich consists of 186 separate items. As reprintings occurred, particularly in the later parts, so a number of the engravings were re-engraved or reversed. These factors together with the textual variations of the different parts make a complete set of de Bry in the original state a bibliographical nightmare. The most reliable of the bibliographies is that by Ludovic Crawford published in 1884 but even here there are omissions and there is still a need for a definitive bibliography. However, in the listing of the maps, the problems are not so immense as little or no attempt was made to alter originals in the light of further geographical knowledge and variations that do occur are mainly confined to alteration of cartouches, spelling and style of lettering.
In the following list, a number of maps which according to Crawford should be included in certain parts, have been omitted where he has been proved to be in error. Nor have engravings of a landscape nature, classified by Crawford as maps, been included, nor quasi-landscape maps that are enumerated amongst the plates. Maps that are complete in themselves, however, have been listed even though they may have been issued as part of the text.
THE COLLECTION OF early voyages compiled and published by the family of de Bry between 1590 and 1634 is one of the most important of its kind, and at the same time a nightmare for bibliographers.
There are two distinct series - the Grands Voyages, so-called because the pages are taller and wider than the second, which is called the Petits Voyages. The general title is Peregrinationum in lndiam Oriental et lndiam Occidentales but the work is usually referred to simply as 'de Bry'. The first series (Grands Voyages) consists of accounts of North and South America and the second series (Petits Voyages) relates tales of voyages mainly to the East Indies and the arctic regions.
The inspiration came from Thomas Hariot's A Briefe and true report of the newfound land in Virginia, published in London in 1588, and being an account of the colony settled by Raleigh. The artist, JohIi White, had accompanied Raleigh and made a large number of magnificent drawings and watercolours, many of which are in the British Library. Either Hariot contacted de Bry or de Bry contacted Hariot, but the outcome was the first part of the Grands Voyages, a magnificent volume of text and engravings plus a map, a plate of Adam and Eve and five plates of ancient Picts. All, except the Adam plate, were engraved after White's drawings. The work was issued in 1590 in four languages - English, French, German and Latin. The English and French are now the rarest.
Theodor de Bry, who was an engraver, printseller, bookseller and publisher, followed this work with Part II of Grands Voyages, a volume dealing with the French exploits in Florida. This included a set of engravings after the drawings of Jacques le Moyne de Morgues, a friend of both White and Hariot, an engraving of Noah's Ark and a map of Florida. This part was issued in German and Latin only as were all succeeding parts. By the time of his death in 1598 de Bry had issued six parts. He was succeeded by his widow and two sons Johann Th~odor and Johann Israel, who published the seventh, eighth and ninth parts - the last in 1600. After an interruption, the parts were recommenced in 1619 and continued until 1624 by another member of the family, Matheus Merian, who also completed the last of the fourteen parts in German by 1630 and the Latin thirteenth and final part. All the parts in Latin are the German texts translated into another language.
The Petits Voyages, thirteen parts in German and twelve in Latin, were started in 1598 by Theodor and completed in 1628 by Matheus Merian. Almost every part was profusely illustrated with engravings on single sheets with text beneath and the versos blank. The quality of the engravings varies, those in the earlier parts being the most distinguished. In the Petits Voyages there is a certain amount of plagiarism from previously published voyages.
So a complete set of 'de Bry' consists of fifty four parts. Fourteen parts in German, thirteen in Latin, one in English and one in French in the Grands Voyages. Thirteen parts in German, and twelve in Latin for the Petits Voyages. Two other, unillustrated parts were also issued as an appendix to each of the two volumes.
Within most of the parts great variations occur as a number were published in separate editions and within these editions again there are, at times, several states. For instance, the set made up by Henry Newton Stevens now at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich consists of 186 separate items. As reprintings occurred, particularly in the later parts, so a number of the engravings were re-engraved or reversed. These factors together with the textual variations of the different parts make a complete set of de Bry in the original state a bibliographical nightmare. The most reliable of the bibliographies is that by Ludovic Crawford published in 1884 but even here there are omissions and there is still a need for a definitive bibliography. However, in the listing of the maps, the problems are not so immense as little or no attempt was made to alter originals in the light of further geographical knowledge and variations that do occur are mainly confined to alteration of cartouches, spelling and style of lettering.
In the following list, a number of maps which according to Crawford should be included in certain parts, have been omitted where he has been proved to be in error. Nor have engravings of a landscape nature, classified by Crawford as maps, been included, nor quasi-landscape maps that are enumerated amongst the plates. Maps that are complete in themselves, however, have been listed even though they may have been issued as part of the text.
Read Full Article >>
[Acrobat Reader required]
COPYRIGHT Winter 1989 The Map Collector, All rights reserved.
No portion of this article nor the accompanying illustrations can or may be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
