West- Indianischer Historien ander Theil/ I. Ladrones

Title

West- Indianischer Historien ander Theil/ I. Ladrones

Map shows the encounter of the dutch with the inhabitant of the island Ladrones (Mariana Islands).

ca. 1628

Artist

Bry, de - Merian (1528-1598)

In 1631, Matthäus Merian and Johann Ludwig Gottfried published Historia Antipodum, a heavily abridged, single-volume version of Theodor De Bry’s 14-part America series. After De Bry’s death, his sons continued the project. Merian, a skilled engraver, later married De Bry’s daughter and collaborated with Gottfried. The Historia Antipodum reorganized numerous travel accounts into three chapters covering nature, exploration, and recent colonial developments. Merian and Gottfried significantly reworked the content, merging reports and integrating illustrations into the text. Their depiction of the natural world and Indigenous cultures—drawing in part on José de Acosta’s writings—was particularly influential. The book stands as one of the most ambitious works of early modern travel literature.

Historical Description

Guam is the largest and southernmost island of the Mariana Islands archipelago in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is a foreign territory of the United States. The capital is Hagatna, formerly Agana. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to discover the archipelago, formerly also known as Ladrones (Ladrons), and his sailors named it Islas de Ladrones (Island of Thieves: "Thieves' Islands") because of thefts by islanders who had come on board. The Marianas became the hub of the Spanish Asian fleet with the Manila Galleon. On Guam, the necessary infrastructure was developed to supply the galleons. Later, in honor of Maria Anna of Austria, Archduchess of Austria, the Spanish renamed the archipelago "Islas Marianas", a name that has survived to this day.