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Rare early map of Mexico, published in 1595 by Theodore de Bry, illustrating the expedition of Girolomo Benzoni in the New World.
The map shows an area corresponding roughly to the modern Mexican states of Michoacan, Jalisco, Mayarit, and Guerrero, plus the Valley of Mexico. The map is elaborately decorated with engravings of Native Americans, bison, canoes, ships and two strapwork cartouches.
The map appeared in Volume 5 of De Bry's Americae pars quinta nobilis & admiratione plena Hieronymi Bezoni Mediolanensis secundae setionis Hispanorum.
The map is derived from Ortelius's map of the same title, first published in 1579. The map is probably drawn from Spanish sources, as it includes longitudes based on the Toledo meridian. The number of place names, though, exceeds those found in Spanish contemporary sources.
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.
![[Campeche]. Plano del Estado de Campeche 1861. Formado en la Agencia del Ministerio de Fomento en Campeche con vista en su mayor parte de los datos Topográficos é* hidrográficos reunidos por ella y otros datos y noticias que se tuvieron presentes por H. Fremont.](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/68167.jpg)
