Jan Huyghen van Linschoten
By BRY, Theodor de , 1599
£550
BUY

Soufrir por parvenir. Ioannis Hugonis a Linschoten Haerlememsis Æta 35 Aº 1598.

Art & Architecture
  • Author: BRY, Theodor de
  • Publication place: [Frankfurt
  • Publisher: Theodore de Bry
  • Publication date: 1599].
  • Physical description: Engraved portrait, with letterpress text, minor tears to margin.
  • Dimensions: 140 by 100mm. (5.5 by 4 inches).
  • Inventory reference: 17721

Notes

Portrait of Jan Huyghen van Linschoten (1563-1611), a Dutch traveller and writer, whose ‘Itinerario’, a collection of information gathered while working with the Portuguese in Goa, broke their monopoly on the trade routes to the Far East. His suggestion of approaching the East Indies from the south of Sumatra through the Sunda Strait allowed the British and Dutch East India Companies to reach the Spice Islands without Portuguese intervention, much to their displeasure. Linschoten also travelled with Willem Barentsz into the Arctic Circle, again publishing an account.

In 1599, printer and publisher Theodor de Bry produced his own collections of travel accounts, the ‘Petits Voyages, or India Orientalis’, which eventually ran to eight volumes and included Linschoten’s ‘Itininerario’. Linschoten’s portrait, engraved by de Bry can be found among its pages. The cartographer’s bust is set within an oval frame surrounded by ornamental flora and fauna. In a cartouche at the bottom are two lines of flawed Latin: “Eoum nobis heic dat Lynscotius Orbem, / Lynscotum, artifici sculpta tabella manu”.

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