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Important early view of St. Augustine, showing the raid of Sir Francis Drake during his famous West Indian voyage of 1586-86. The image I appeared in the 8th Part of De Bry's Grand Voyages, and is based upon Baptista Boazio's 1588 plan of St. Augustine. The plan is the earliest obtainable map of a city within the United States and is preceded only by two earlier (and unobtainable) Boazio plans of St. Augustine and Ramusio's plan of what would become Montreal. Burden 131. Shaved right margin with minor loss, but with an old added margin for framing. A good example of this rare view of St. Augustine.
Theodor de Bry (1528-1598) was a prominent Flemish engraver and publisher best known for his engravings of the New World. Born in Liege, de Bry hailed from the portion of Flanders then controlled by Spain. The de Brys were a family of jewelers and engravers, and young Theodor was trained in those artisanal trades.
As a Lutheran, however, his life and livelihood were threatened when the Spanish Inquisition cracked down on non-Catholics. De Bry was banished and his goods seized in 1570. He fled to Strasbourg, where he studied under the Huguenot engraver Etienne Delaune. He also traveled to Antwerp, London, and Frankfurt, where he settled with his family.
In 1590, de Bry began to publish his Les Grands Voyages, which would eventually stretch to thirty volumes released by de Bry and his two sons. The volumes contained not only important engraved images of the New World, the first many had seen of the geographic novelties, but also several important maps. He also published a collection focused on India Orientalis. Les Grands Voyages was published in German, Latin, French, and English, extending de Bry’s fame and his view of the New World.
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