This copper engraving is from a remarkable series of publications, illustrating voyages of discovery and travels of exploration to various parts of the world. The project was begun by Theodore de Bry of Frankfurt, in 1590 and was to continue for another 54 years. They became known collectively as the Grands Voyages (to America and the West Indies) and the Petits Voyages (to the Orient and the East Indies). De Bry died after the first six parts of the Grands Voyages were completed. The project was completed initially by his widow and two sons, Johann Theodore de Bry and Johann Israel de Bry, then by his son-in-law, Matthaus Merian in 1644.

This nightmarish engraving is Plate XVII (the last two digits are so faint it appears as XV) from Part V of de Bry's Grands Voyages. The engraving details the cruel violence Hernando de Soto inflicted on the Indigenous peoples of Florida, with a special emphasis on dismemberment. According to accounts, the natives fed the conquistador stories about gold in order to appease him, but when he found out they were lying, he reacted with unimaginable brutality. Although they are hundreds of miles away, the Appalachians appear in the background of the engraving; eventually, De Soto's search for gold took him into the mountains of western North Carolina. From the first German edition of Part V, published 1595. On a sheet of German text measuring 8.9 x 12.7".

References: Church #186; Van Groesen (De Bry's America) p. 250.

Condition: A

A nice impression with light soiling in the blank margins. Along the bottom edge, a couple edge tears have been closed with archival tape on verso.