"Mauritiopolis", Montanus, Arnoldus

Montanus' work was perhaps the greatest illustrated book on the New World produced in the seventeenth century. It contained over one hundred beautifully engraved plates, views, and maps of North and South America. The plates vividly depict forts, festivals, occupations, Dutch fleets, battles, religious rites, and customs of the native inhabitants. This important work was translated into German by Olivier Dapper, and into English by John Ogilby. Several of the plates were later acquired by Pierre Vander Aa.

This finely detailed panorama of Mauritsstaad features a lively scene in the foreground of European merchants trading with the native people. Saints and putti hold aloft the title banner. Mauritsstaad, now part of Recife, was once the capital of Dutch Brazil and an extremely important center of commerce.

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Condition: A

A dark impression issued folding on a sheet with a foolscap watermark. There are a couple printer's creases and faint offsetting.