Beschreibung:

BRY, Theodor de (1528-1598). The Great Voyages, Part I, in Latin]. HARIOT, Thomas (1560-1621). Admiranda narratio fida tamen, de commodis et incolarum ritibus Virginiae . Frankfurt: Johannes Wechel for Theodor de Bry 1590. 2 o (315 x 237 mm). Engraved title-page, privilege statement on pasted-in slip, dedication to Maximilian I of Bavaria with his large engraved arms, double-page map of Virginia by Theodor de Bry after John White 28 numbered engravings, ENGRAVED TITLE AND ENGRAVINGS FINELY COLORED BY A CONTEMPORARY HAND, of which 17 half-page with letterpress text, the remainder full-page or larger, nos. 2-23 by G. Veen or T. de Bry after John White the last 5 by and after T. de Bry; no. 1 showing Adam and Eve (by T. de Bry after T. de Winghe), no. 2 a birds-eye view of the area around Roanoke island showing the arrival of the English, nos. 3-23 depicting scenes of native Virginian life, and nos. 24-28 showing the ancient Picts. Woodcut head- and tail-piece ornaments and initials, most lightly hand-colored. Blank leaf D6 present. (Section of title-leaf torn away with loss to lower outer section of engraving, the map with short foldbreak at gutter, slight restored break along guard, and a small tear into image, some offsetting or showthrough of coloring, 2 or 3 text leaves browned, occasional marginal soiling, engravings 13, 18, 20 and 22 slightly cropped, 18 and 20 with minor short tears along guards, descriptive text to engraving 13 also cropped, small dampstain to upper gutter margins of a few leaves, printing flaw to plate section title affecting a few words in bottom paragraph.) 17th-century German speckled sheep over pasteboard, spine tooled in blind (restorations to head and tail of spine, a corner of back cover and a few small spots of leather worn or gnawed away). Provenance : Bernard Albach of St. Ahaus, Westphalia (contemporary ownership inscription with mottos); June ?1628 ownership inscription; Nordkirchen (bookplate). FIRST LATIN EDITION, FIRST ISSUE of Part I of Theodor de Bry's great collection of voyages. Based on the dates of the dedications and the states of the map, the French edition is thought to have been the first of the four versions to have been printed; priority of the Latin, English and German editions is not clear. The map, engraved after John White is "one of the most significant cartographical milestones in colonial North American history, [and] the most accurate map drawn in the sixteenth century of any part of that continent" (Burden 76). White and the scientist and surveyor Thomas Hariot had both accompanied Sir Richard Grenville's original Virginia expedition in 1585. White returned in 1587 and became governor of the second colony there. Forced to return to England for supplies, White was delayed by the war with Spain: when he finally returned to Virginia in 1590, the colony had vanished. The extraordinary engravings, shared by all four editions, were based on White's famous series of watercolor paintings of Indian life, now in the British Museum. Those engravings in particular that show native clothing and body paint find their fullest expression in this colored format. Nonetheless, copies of any of the volumes of the de Bry Voyages with fine contemporary coloring are EXTREMELY RARE. Alden and Landis 590/31; Church 140; JCB (3) I, pp. 383-384; cf. Sabin 8784.