Theodor de Bry and his sons

Theodor de Bry (Liège 1528 to Frankfurt 1598), goldsmith and engraver, began in 1590 the illustrated collection of voyages that his sons Johann Theodor and Johann Israel, and after them Matthäus Merian, son-in-law of Johann Theodor, continued until 1634. The Grands Voyages, thirteen parts on America, open with Harriot's Virginia after the watercolours of John White and go on to Le Moyne's Florida, Staden and Léry in Brazil, Benzoni, Acosta, Drake, Raleigh and the Dutch voyages through the Strait of Magellan. The Petits Voyages, twelve parts on Africa and the East Indies, follow Linschoten and the first Dutch fleets to the East.

The engravings of the De Brys fixed the image of the New World and of Asia for a century. The collection appeared in Latin and German editions, with reissues and new engravings of the plates, so that a complete set is a bibliographical puzzle that Church, Sabin and Huth have mapped part by part.

We offer complete sets and single parts, and engraved plates from the series: the first printed view of Macao, the first map of the Singapore Strait, the map of the Mughal Empire after Baffin.