Original Listing Description

[Exploration & Travel - South America - Brazil and Chile - 17th century] [Early Americana] [Dutch West India Company] [Maps & Cartography] Printed in Kleve by Tobias Silberling, 1660. Illustrated with 3 folding engraved maps (South America and the Western part of Africa, Brazil under Dutch rule, and Mauritiopolis, Recife and surroundings), 5 folding engraved views, and a (very rare) small plate of solar eclipse (2 of the plates and 2 of the maps with attractive contemporary coloring!). This is the Second Latin edition of this famous history of Dutch rule in Brazil under from 1637 to 1644, which is an important account of Dutch colonial empire in Brazil, considered of "inestimable documentary value" (Borba de Moraes). The first edition, printed in folio (printed by Blaeu in Amsterdam in 1647), is extremely rare and valuable (particularly due to a fire that consumed much of Blaeu's stock). This 2nd Edition was amended by including some additional contributions on the natural history of Brazil by Johan Maurits' physician Willem Piso, dealing with the climate, water, medical plants, sugar cane, wild honey and manioc root of Brazil. “The book was the most comprehensive depiction of Brazil thus far and represents an important work of 17th-century Dutch geography. […] The work provided information about the life and customs of the natives of Brazil. The Tupi living in villages close to the Dutch settlements were loyal allies and open to attempts to evangelize them, whereas it was said that the Tarairiu living in the hinterland of the Rio Grande preferred a nomadic life beyond the boundaries of colonial territories. […] The reports on both tribes came from a company employee called Johan Rabe, who was married to one of the tribal women and acted as a contact man to the Tarairiu for the governor. He probably came with a group of Indians just before the departure of the governor to Recife and accompanied them to the Netherlands, where they performed ritual dances in the Mauritshuis in front of an audience.” (Susanne Friedrich, et al. Transformations of Knowledge in Dutch Expansion) The fine copper-engraved plates are after Frans Post (1612–1680), a painter of the Dutch Golden Age, and the first European artist to paint the New World. In 1636 he traveled to Dutch Brazil in northeast of South America at the invitation of the governor Johan Maurits, and his images, disseminated through these engravings (executed by Jan van Brosterhuisen and Salomon Savery) defined Europe’s vision of the exotic lands of South America. Caspar van Baerle (aka Barlaeus, 1584-1648) was a poet, writer, and one of the great 17th century Dutch humanists. He was commissioned by Prince Johan Maurits van Nassau (1604-1679), known in English as John Maurice of Nassau, to record his tenure as governor general of the Dutch East India Company's possessions in Brazil. Johan Maurits distinguished himself as a military commander on behalf of the Dutch West Indies company (WIC) in Brazil. During his tenure as governor general in 1636–1644 (the eight-year span or octennium of the title) he fought almost constantly against the Spanish Portuguese forces to defend and even to expand Dutch holdings in South America and, eventually, in Africa (in order to re-open the transport of slaves to the Americas). The Dutch eventually sold Brazil to the Portuguese in 1661, and so Maurits’s governorship represents the high-water mark of their power in the Americas. "Barlaeus interwove passages about Johan Maurits’s actions as governor with descriptions of the geography, the flora and fauna, the population and the sugar plantations in the colony. His history painted a picture of a colonial administration that endeavored to be fair to everyone. Johan Maurits and his fellow governors appeased the Portuguese and the other population groups by means of a carefully weighed balance of military presence and measures aimed at promoting prosperity and cooperation. [...] They protected the Indians in the colony from slavery in another guise, placed them under the authority of their own village elders and recruited them as auxiliary forces by rewarding them appropriately. They made allies of savage, cannibal Indians from the outlying areas and tried to civilize them. By promoting economic recovery, Johan Maurits and his fellow administrators did the whole population, including the black slaves, a service. They stopped the extortion of plantation owners by local commanders and restored peace and order to rural areas. They protected the inhabitants against the Portuguese incursions from Bahia and against raids by marauding Maroons in southern Pernambuco. […] They promoted regulated free trade between the colony and the Netherlands, [which] created the opportunity to establish fair prices for Brazilian exports and European imports and encouraged trade with the home country. [...] Barlaeus was consequently able to conclude his history with praise for the governor." (E. Van den Boogaart, A Well-Governed Colony: Frans Posts Illustrations in Caspar Barlaeuss History of Dutch Brazil, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 59, no. 3 (2011), p.238-239). Bibliographic references: Sabin 3409; Borba de Moraes, 78-79; Bosch 127. Physical description: Octavo, leaves measure 153 mm x 92 mm. Bound in 20th-century half-calf over speckled boards (spine with raised bands, and title-label lettered in Swedish). Pagination: [10], 664, [24] pages + 9 plates. Bound without the engraved half-title, engraved portrait of the dedicatee and his engraved coat of arms, but otherwise complete, with all the illustrative engraved plates and maps: 3 engraved fold-out maps (of which 2 are hand-colored), 5 engraved fold-out plates of views of Brazil (of which 2 are hand-colored), and the rare smaller engraved plate of a solar eclipse (which is missing in most copies). Text printed in single volume, in roman type, with marginal notes in italic letter. Includes a dictionary of the aboriginal language (‘Vocabula chilensia’) on pp. 474-491. Preliminary pages contain Barlaeus’ dedicatory epistle to John Maurice of Nassau. The additional works by Willem Piso occupy pp. 574-664. Included at the end of the volume is an extensive Index rerum. Condition: Very Good. Binding slightly rubbed, with a small chip to front cover and minor edge-wear. Title-page with an early ownership signature and some other ink markings; text-block with occasional light marginal soiling. Plates with occasional light soiling or minor spotting (mostly marginal); one plate with a short closed tear neatly repaired on blank verso (without loss). A few pages with old underscoring and/or small manuscript marginal notes. In all, a clean, solid example, with all text and all the essential plates and maps present, some with very attractive early hand-coloring. Please right-click on thumbnails below and choose "open image in a new window" option to see larger images.

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