By Michiel Van Groesen , …
Theodore de Bry, 2019
When Flemish engraver Theodore de Bry published the first volume of his America series in 1590, the New World was largely unknown to Europeans. Drawing from accounts by explorers like Thomas Harriot and Sir Francis Drake, De Bry's detailed engravings introduced the continent and its inhabitants to an eager audience. The series covers regions from Virginia and Florida through Central America and Patagonia, illustrating European perceptions of native peoples and customs. While based on explorers' reports, De Bry also incorporated his own imagination, as he never visited the Americas himself. He collaborated with artists John White and Jacques Le Moyne in London, adapting their watercolors for the initial volumes.