"S. Salvador", Merian, Matthaus

This nicely engraved view shows the Dutch fleet in the Baya de Todos os Sanctos (Bay of Saints) attacking the town of San Salvador and the Portuguese merchant fleet in 1624. Salvador, then the capital of Brazil, was a strategic port under Portuguese control. The Dutch, determined to seize control of Brazil, formed the West India Company in 1621 and sent a large expedition to Brazil. On May 8, 1624, the Dutch fleet under the command of Admiral Jacob Willekens and Vice Admiral Pieter Heyn arrived in Salvador and attacked the city. The Dutch succeeded in capturing the city, although the Portuguese regained control less than a year later. This map depicts the city of Salvador and its fortifications, with Dutch ships advancing on the city. A parchment-style inset shows an overview of the area around the bay.

This view was re-engraved from the edition of Theodor de Bry's America, part 13, published in 1627. Johann Ludwig Gottfried was a printer who had worked on the de Bry volumes, and subsequently printed a one-volume condensation of the voyages, published by Merian Matthaus. Engraved by Sebastian Furck, whose imprint appears backwards in the inset.

References: John Carter Brown Library, #04206-21.

Condition: B+

Wide margins with a printer's crease adjacent to centerfold and a couple of small spots.