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 Johann Theodore's son-in-law, Matthaus Merian, in 1624.

A. [Alvarado's Greed in Mexico City] Petrus Alvaradus, Absente Cortesio Mexicanos sua Festa Celebrantes Strictis Gladiis Caedit, Atque Monilia, Quibus Erant Ornati, Detrahit, from Grands Voyages, Part V, circa 1617 (7.5 x 6.1"). This haunting engraving of the Massacre in the Great Temple was published in Part V of De Bry's Grands Voyages. It shows Pedro de Alvarado, one of Hernan Cortes's captains, leading a massacre of Aztecs in Tenochtitlan during the the Feast of Toxcatl on May 22, 1520. According to the text, the Spanish were motivated by greed, lusting after the precious metals adorning the Aztecs. From the second Latin edition of Part V. On a sheet of Latin text measuring 9.3 x 13.3". References: Church #157; Van Groesen (De Bry's America) p. 251. Condition: A nice impression on a sheet with a fleur-de-lis watermark.

B. [The Fate of Certain Prisoners], from Historia Antipodum oder Newe Welt…, published 1631 (9.0 x 13.5"). This fascinating engraving was originally published as the ninth plate in Part IX of De Bry's Grands Voyages. It details a sacrificial ritual of the Aztecs wherein a slave is selected and locked up in the most impressive room in the temple and treated well. He is dressed as an idol and set free for an entire year, during which he is allowed to do as he wants and everyone he encounters must kneel to him. At the end of the year, he is bound to a stone, given a sword and shield, and forced to fight a man who seeks to kill him. If he wins, he is freed and becomes a leader; if he loses, he is skinned alive by a priest (as depicted in the foreground). The plate was republished in Johann Ludwig Gottfried's Historia Antipodum, an abridgement of De Bry's voyages to America that incorporated much new material. Matthaus Merian, de Bry's son-in-law and publisher for Historia Antipodum, was granted access to de Bry's copper-engraved plates. On a sheet of German text measuring 9.0 x 13.5". References: Van Groesen (De Bry's America) p. 342. Condition: A crisp impression with a small wormhole below the engraving and a couple of edge tears in the blank margins that have been closed on verso with archival materials.

References:

Condition: A

See description above.