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Description

Title page from De Bry's Account of Benzoni's travels in the new world. Born in Italy about 1520, Benzoni spent many years in America. In 1565, published an account of his travels and adventures, from 1541 until 1556. De Bry published some of the earliest illusrtated works on early Travels in the Americas. He employed some of the best engravers of the period and converted the works of early sketch artists and travel accounts into some of the earliest maps and visual images of the new world. Minor loss at the upper right corner, but still a nice example in full color.

Theodor De Bry Biography

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.