Dritter Theil 599 / Entwurff der Nassanischen Flotta, wie dieselbe ahn dem Ufer New Hispanien gelegen, und auff die Schiffe von Manila kommend..

Title

Dritter Theil 599 / Entwurff der Nassanischen Flotta, wie dieselbe ahn dem Ufer New Hispanien gelegen, und auff die Schiffe von Manila kommend..

Description

Map depicts the coast of Accapulco and the coast of the island Guagan in the Pacific ocean. Theodor De Bry’s Grand Voyages, an illustrated collection of accounts of the Americas, defined the early European picture of the New World. Printed by David Aubri in Hanau.

ca. 1630

Artist

Bry, de - Merian (1528-1598)

In 1631, Matthäus Merian and Johann Ludwig Gottfried published a one-volume abridged version of the monumental America series by Theodor De Bry and his two sons. The Historia Antipodum can be seen as the apotheosis of the collection of voyages to the New World. After Theodor's death in 1598, Johan Theodor and his brother Johan Israel continued to run the business together in Frankfurt until the latter died in 1609. As he had no natural male successor, in 1616 he sought the help of a highly talented Basel engraver in his early twenties, Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593-1650), who soon married Johan Theodor's eldest daughter Maria Magdalena. When Johan Theodor died, Merian immediately complied with a request from his mother-in-law. After Merian moved to Frankfurt permanently in June 1626, he turned to Johann Ludwig Gottfried (ca. 1584-1633) to help him pursue a successful independent career as a publisher. In the early 1630s, Gottfried contributed to a new Latin edition of Part 3, which contained the reports of Hans Staden and Jean de Léry on Brazil, as well as to German and Latin reprints of Part 9, which was dedicated to the natural history of the West Indies by the Jesuit José de Acosta. He was probably also involved in the production of the last German volume of the America series, part 14, which was published in 1630. The most significant addition to the collection, however, was a German work entitled Historia Antipodum or Newe Welt, published in 1631, a voluminous folio volume of more than six hundred pages which, despite its size, brought together what was probably the most monumental publication of early modern Europe, the fourteen-part America series that formed part of the De Bry travel collection. In many ways, the changes Merian and Gottfried made to the travelogues for Historia Antipodum surpassed even the editorial changes made for the original volumes. The travel accounts were no longer published one after the other, each followed by its own set of relevant illustrations, but all available information was summarized in three long chapters on the history of the New World, with the engravings within the text rather than as separate sections at the end of each narrative. The first chapter of the abridged version deals with the natural world, a decision that must be seen in the light of Gottfried and Merian's personal convictions, which they expressed in their introduction to Archontologia Cos- mica. The second chapter brings together fifty-three travelogues to the New World, all of which were previously included in the collection of voyages. Finally, the third and shortest chapter presents new, recently published accounts of European expansion in the Atlantic. In the introduction to the volume, the editors introduce the reader to their objective. The dedication to Landgrave Philipp von Hessen, signed only by Merian but dated 1630, emphasizes the differences between Europeans and the indigenous population of the New World, as does the "Preface to the Reader", which bears both signatures. Merian and Gottfried adhere to the generally accepted order of information in early modern European humanities and open their Historia Antipodum with a description of the natural world. The first seventy pages are based on the German translation of Acosta's treatise, which was first used in 1601. As the original translation prepared by Johan Homberger for the De Brys comprised 327 folios, the version printed in the abridged edition was heavily edited. Books 1-3 of Acosta's work, which deal with such traditional and far-reaching topics as the Aristotelian world view, the biblical theories on the origin of the Indians, the habitability of the Torrid zone and the currents and winds in the southern hemisphere, are each reduced to a few pages in the Historia Antipodum.

Historical Description

Central America includes both the region of Central America and the West Indian Islands. The history of Central America is marked by profound cultural, political, and social changes. From the glorious indigenous civilizations to the dark era of colonization and the challenges of the modern world, Central America remains a region in constant transformation and of great historical significance. In pre-Columbian times, Central America was home to numerous influential cultures. The Maya were one of the most advanced civilizations of the pre-Columbian world and inhabited an area that today includes parts of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The Aztecs primarily lived in Central Mexico, and the Olmecs are considered one of the oldest cultures in Mesoamerica.In the 16th century, European colonization of Central America began under Hernán Cortés, who conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521, marking the beginning of Spanish rule in Mesoamerica. In 1524, Pedro de Alvarado began the conquest of the Maya regions in Guatemala and other parts of Central America. When Columbus landed on San Salvador (Bahamas) in 1492 under the Spanish crown, he was primarily searching for gold and other riches. However, the Arawaks placed no value on what Europeans considered wealth. Thus, while the Caribbean was settled, the conquistadors soon turned their attention to the American continent. Gradually, the English, Dutch, and French also settled in the region.By the end of the 16th century, the region was mostly under Spanish control, and the Spanish colonization led to profound changes, particularly through the introduction of Catholicism, the destruction of indigenous cultures, and the reshaping of the social structure. In the early 19th century, the independence struggle in Central America began, influenced by the independence movements in other parts of Latin America.