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Scarce map of the Straits of Magellan, from Part 9 of De Bry's Grand Voyages.
Fascinating chart of the Strait of Magellan, showing Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. Includes a profile of the geography of the strait, sea banks or shoals, scale, dividers, and compass rose. Includes four native American figures: a Patagonian giant [?], a woman giving a bird to a child, a man wearing feathered headdress and garment, and a woman wearing a cloak. Also includes penguin, snail, spear, bow and arrow.
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.
![(Malaspina Expedition): [Group of six manuscript documents, signed, related to a future assignment for the officers of the Malaspina expedition, including a voyage to chart the coast of Guatemala and to explore Nicaragua, proposed by the viceroy of New Spain]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/101838.jpg)
