De Bry & Le Moyne's Grands Voyages - Florida Volume with Map + 42 Engravings + Noah's Ark, Frontis & Shield

Artist or Author: Theodor de Bry & Jacques Le Moyne

Work: Der Ander Theil der Newlich erfundenen Landtschafft Americae...

Date of Publication: 1603

Style: Florida Volume with Map + 42 Engravings + Noah's Ark, Frontis & Shield

Paper Size: Case ~ 10 3/4" by 15 1/2"; Book ~ 9 3/4" by 14 1/4"

Condition: The work is in overall very good to excellent condition overall. Professionally conserved in 2023 by J. Franklin Mowery (Mowery Conservation LLC). Treatment included aqueous washing, removal of earlier non-archival repairs where feasible, stabilization, leafcasting of damaged leaves, reinforcement of weakened paper, sympathetic rebinding in period-style brown goatskin over raised hemp cords, new handmade endpapers, and a custom clamshell case. Accompanied by the conservator's illustrated treatment report. There may be a few minor imperfections to be expected with age. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions.

Description of the work: This significant, historic volume is Theodor de Bry & Jacques Le Moyne's Der Ander Theil der Newlich erfundenen Landtschafft Americae... or Brevis Narratio eorum quae in florida Americae provi[n]cia Gallis acciderunt ... quae est seconda pars Americae. It is the second part or volume of Grands Voyages which is considered one of the most remarkable collections of voyages published in the Age of Discovery. This is the German edition of the work published in Frankfurt by Theodor de Bry in 1603.

The work includes engraved frontispiece, shield, plate of Noah's Ark, folding map of Florida, and 42 plates after Le Moyne with letterpress titling and descriptive text.  Also includes appended historical texts including the Vnterthanige Supplication of Rene de Laudonniere and alphabetical index.  The volume is expertly bound in modern calf and housed in nice presentation box.

This is one of the most important volumes published on early North America. It features Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues's illustrations of Native Americans. The work described the earliest French settlements that would become the United States. The illustrations were after watercolors drawn first hand in the New World by Le Moyne on the mid-1560s expedition led by Jean Ribault and René Goulaine de Laudonnière. His illustrations of the Florida Indians are some of the most important visual records of American Indians and their culture before the 19th century.

It also features one of the most important published maps of Florida. The map was first printed with this text and one of the most detailed of the Florida peninsula available before the 16th century. John Matthew Baxter describes it as "...the most remarkable and important map, which has been preserved from the sixteenth century maps, of that part of the East Coast which lies between Cape Hatteras and Cape Florida ... [It is] the first French map to show Florida ... [and is] considered the most important map of Florida." (Cumming & De Vorsey 14)

Theodor de Bry (1528-1598) was a prominent Flemish engraver and publisher. He came from a family of jewelers and engravers, and faced persecution for his Lutheran faith during the Spanish Inquisition. De Bry would be most known for his engravings of the New World from Grands Voyages, a work which would reach 30 volumes in scope. He was inspired to create this work after meeting Richard Hakluyt in 1587, who had published his own collection of voyages.

De Bry's landmark work depicted the early voyages and settlements in the Americas. His work greatly influenced the European view of the Americas for a long period of time. De Bry's prints provide an important contemporary view of European conquest and settlement in early America. The images depict native customs, culture and warfare, and episodes in the history of European contact with these natives and their world. As Michael Alexander said, De Bry's work "brought to the European public the first realistic visualization of the exotic world opened up across the Atlantic by the explorers, conquerors and settlers." (Discovering the New World, p. 7)