Johann Theodor de Bry’s etching, “The Port of Lisbon”, c1592

Johann Theodor de Bry (aka Jean Théodore de Bry; Jan Dirk de Bry) 1561–1623)

“The Port of Lisbon”, c1592, engraved illustration on page 1 to the third part (of fourteen parts) of Hans Staden’s (c1525–c1576) “Great voyages”, titled: “Americae tertia pars Memorabile[m] provinciae Brasiliae historiam contine[n]s, Germanico primùm sermone scriptam à Ioa[n]ne Stadio Homburgensi Hesso, nunc autem Latinitate donatam à Teucrio Annaeo Priuato Colchanthe Po: & Med” (The third part of America contains the Memorable history of the province of Brazil, first written in German by Joanne Stadio Homburgensi Hesse, but now given in Latin by Teucrio Annaeus Priuato Colchanthe Po: & Med), published in 1592 in Frankfurt-am-Main possibly arranged by Sigismund Feyerabend (aka Sigmund Feyerabend; Sigmund Feierabend; Sigismund Feyrabend) (1528–1590) and later published in 1634 by Matthäus Merian I (aka Matthaeus Merian) (1593–1650).

Archive.org offers an online view of Staden’s publication and the context of this print: https://archive.org/details/americaetertiapa00stad_3/page/1/mode/1up.

The Historical Service of Defence/Department of the Navy (Paris) offers the following description of this print as showing (transl.) “the bank of the Tagus, between the Jardim do Tabaco (Tobacco Garden) and the Terreiro do Paço (Palace Square). We can observe the intense participation of Africans in the many activities that take place in the quay, in particular the operations of loading and unloading of goods, but also their use in navigation tasks, as rowers and especially as sailors. or crew members in Portuguese caravels” (http://histoire-du-portugal.blogspot.com/2014/04/le-port-de-lisbonne-gravure-du-xvieme.html).

Etching printed in umber ink on laid paper with watermark.

Size: (sheet) 21.1 x 23.4 cm; (image borderline) 15.8 x 19 cm.

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed lifetime impression (based on the quality of the line showing no sign of wear to the printing plate) with adequate/good margins in an excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or significant stains.

I am selling this superb etching showing Lisbon’s busy port in the 16^th century marking the beginning of Hans Staden’s historically important account of his voyage to Brazil—one memorable experience that made my toes curl in horror was feeling Staden’s shock after finishing a “delicious soup” and discovering “in the bottom of the [soup] cauldron some small skulls, which he later found out to be those of the boys in his choir” (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Staden—for the total cost of AU$244 (currently US$163.84/EUR156.33/GBP134.56 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this exceptionally rare and historically important early record port activities in the 16^th century, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold