Description
PUBLICATION DETAILS: German first edition. Theodore de Bry, Frankfurt am Main. Twenty-Eight engravings, one map and one city plan. Text by Girolamo Benzoni. Printed by Johan Feyerabend. Based on an earlier German translation by Nicolaus Höniger (Geneva 1582-83), which included notes in the margins by Urbain Chauveton. Dedicated to Maurice of Hesse-Kassel. An Imperial privilege is mentioned on the titlepage. The three words in the title “Das dritte Buch” refer to Benzoni’s third book of his Historia, the source of the text. The 1st German edition of Part VI was published in 1597; the 2nd edition, 1st issue in 1619 and the 2nd edition, 2nd issue also in 1619. (Church, 188) (Crawford, pp. 27-28).
RARITY. No other complete German Part VI on the market for years. Except for this copy, none in ABE Books out of 25 de Bry Grand Voyages, mostly Latin versions. None in Rare Books Hub. None on the internet.
TITLE PAGE: [The major elements of this book are discussed in the sequence bound.] De Bry followed Benzoni’ lead and divided his story of Central and South America into its three parts. De Bry used a single theme for the three engraved tile pages; that theme is related to the Potosi silver mines which was discussed in de Bry’s Part IV (Vavra, p. 56). The title page of Part IV of de Bry’s 14-part series about the Americas shows the beginning of the trek up the mountain to reach the silver mines; Part V continues the climb up the mountain and this Part VI shows the miners at labor and hints at the conflict between the Natïve Americans and the Spaniards.
The title page was printed using two presses, one to print the ornate engraved frames and the other to print title text which was laid (pasted) near the center of the page. I believe that process covered up Latin text and avoided having to make two frame engravings. There is no clue as to the artist who drew the image nor the engraver; the engraver may have been Theodore de Bry, the master engraver. However, the engraver was more likely Adam Elsheimer whose initials are shown on the title page of the second edition of part IV. De Bry planned to use Benzoni’s text in Parts IV, V, and VI and chose to tie the series together by using the mountain landscape of the Potosi silver mines for the tile pages. The artist Elsheimer was in Frankfort at that time studying engraving. Elsheimer was a protégé of Peter Paul Rube; apparently Elsheimer later showed him the mountain scenes, the concept of which Rubens used in some of in his work (Vavra, pp.53-54).
DEDICATION: The dedication follows the title page. An engraved coat of arms is on the recto and a short text on the verso. The dedication is signed Theodorous von Bry Liodiensis ciuis Francos. De Bry had become a citizen of the free city of Frankfurt and used the German “von” instead of the French “de”. The “von” being emphasized with larger and heavier print. “Liodiensis” is the Latin word for Liège. This leaf was supplied from a slightly smaller copy of the book.
MAP: The map is shown and discussed in Burden 91. The title is across the top of the map: “America Sive Novus Orbis Respectu Europaeorum Inferior Globi Terrestri Pars. 1596.” Publication data is at the bottom center: “Francofurti ad Moenum Formis Theod. de Bry.” Published in Latin in all Latin and German language editions of Part VI of de Bry’s Grand Voyages. Although the map is dated 1596, once removed from the book, it is imposable to determine the actual publication date or language of the book. Publication dates of the German editions were listed earlier.
CUSCO: “Cuzco was the religious and administrative capital of the Inca Empire which flourished in ancient Peru between c. 1400 and 1534 CE [when it was captured by the Spanish]. The Incas controlled territory from Quito [Ecuador] to Santiago [Chili], making theirs the largest empire ever seen in the Americas and the largest in the world at that time. Cuzco, which had a population of up to 150,000 at its peak, was laid out in the form of a puma and was dominated by fine buildings and palaces, the richest of all being the sacred gold-covered and emerald-studded Coricancha complex which included a temple to the Inca sun god Inti” (Wikipedia).Plate XII is a view of Spanish and Indians fighting among buildings in Cusco. Plate XIII is a view of a large battle with a plan of Cusco in the background.
TEXT: The 62-page text starts with page 1. Don’t be alarmed at the pagination. Each leaf is numbered with Arabic numerals on the recto only, even though there is text on both sides. Pages 28 to 31 are supplied from another source and are slightly smaller. The final page of text is on the recto of page 62 (verso blank) and includes a second colophon which reads Gedruuct zu Franctfurt am Mayn bey Johann Feyerabend in verlegung BIetrichs von Bry. Anno M.D.XCVII. Note: Theodore also used the German name ‘Dietrichs”.
COLOPHON. Next is the one-page introduction to the plate sand another colophon which reads: Gedruckt zu Franktfurt am Mayn durch Johan Feyrabendt im Yahr M.D.XCVII.
ENGRAVED PLATES: Next are 28 leaves with half-page engraved plates with German text below and blank versos. The pages are numbered in both Roman and Arabic numerals, but the engraved plates are not directly numbered within the frame, although the Arabic must be on the same copper plate as the image. The Arabic would serve no purpose if it were not tied to the engraving. The 28 engraved leaves and the introductory leaf are slightly smaller than the text leaves, indicating they were supplied from another book. The last leaf (28) ends with the word “Ende”.
ARGUMENTUM: Plate VII does not have the word “ARGVMENVM” above the title as do the other plates. This is an oversight by the publisher. Let me explain why. The bibliographer Church includes unique plate-identifiers in his descriptions. The text below the engraving shows the Church-identifier correctly; both second edition issues have different identifiers (Church 188). After I discovered this inconsistency, I used the internet and found the description of the John Carter Brown Library copy which states: “except for plate VII which has the text of the first state of the plate but is lacking the word “ARGVMENTVM” printed below the roman (sic) numeral”. This was confirmed by viewing other sources. Therefore, the present Plate VII is a first edition plate as issued by de Bry.
THEODORE DE BRY (1528 – 1598) was born in Liège in what is now called Belgium. He followed the footsteps of his grandfather and father who were jewelers and engravers of copper plates, developing skills as an engraver and becoming a goldsmith and an engraver. The Spanish Inquisition forced de Bry, a Protestant, to flee to Strasbourg, a free imperial city at that time. From there he moved on to Antwerp and London and in 1588, he and his family moved permanently to Frankfurt am Main (pronounced “Mine” and referring to the river that passes by Frankfurt). There he became a citizen and began to plan his first publications.
The most famous of the de Bry publications is known as the Grand Voyages which were published in Germany beginning with Part I in 1590. The Grand Voyages is about the discovery and early colonization of the New World. There were thirteen parts (volumes) written in Latin, fourteen in German and one each for the English and French editions. Publication of the English and French was discontinued after sales of the Part I yielded poor results.
GIROLAMO BENZONI. Though little is known of his early life, Girolamo wrote that he came from humble origins. He was born in Milan, Italy about 1519 to a Catholic family ruined by misfortune and the continuing wars that were destroying the Italian states. Girolamo’s father could not afford to send him to university; instead, he sent him to France, Germany, Spain and other cities in Italy. Throughout his travels, Girolamo heard of the wonders of the New World and was anxious to see them himself; in 1541 his dreams came true when, at age 22, he departed Milan for the New World. He returned home 14 years later and wrote La Historia del Mono Nuovo which de Bry used for this Part VI as well as the preceding two parts of the Grand Voyages..
CONDITION: Recently conserved. New full calf binding. Map and city plan are in excellent condition. Occasional small rust spots or stains in the book. Some leaves supplied. Plate XX has a short ink note in the right margin. Complete German 1st edition. Overall very good condition.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Benzoni, Girolamo. La Historia del Mondo Nuova. Venice: 1572. [The major source book for de Bry Parts IV-VI.]
Burden, Philip D. The Mapping of North America. Rickmansworth: Raleigh Publications, 1996.
Church, Elihu Dwight. A Catalogue of Books Relating to the discovery of North and South America, Forming a Part of Library of E. D. Church. Compiled and annotated George Watson Cole. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1907.
Crawford Library, Bibliotheca Lindesiana : Collations and Notes, no. 3 : Grands et Petits Voyages of de Bry B. Author: James Ludovic Lindsay, Earl of Crawford. Published Bernard Quaritch, Piccadilly, 1884.
Van Groesen, Michiel. (2007). The De Bry collection of voyages (1590-1634): editorial strategy and the representations of the overseas world. Amsterdam: in eigen beheer [self-management]. [Groesen’s 2007 PhD thesis, 272 pages plus approximately 100 pages of supporting material. The best reference about the de Bry firm.]
Vavra, Luke A. Exploration and Colonization of the New World 1492-1619: An Analysis of the German Editions [of] Theodore de Bry’s Part I (Virginia) 1590 and Part IV (Caribbean) 1594 of the Grands Voyages. Self- published, 2023. [Available on this site.]
BRY4PARTVI
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