1673 Frontispiece of Arnold Montanus's America
DESCRIPTION
An allegorical figure of America presides over this engraved frontispiece, excerpted from the 1673 German edition of Arnoldus Montanus's account of the Americas.
In the center of the scene, the figure of America stands atop a great shell with a feathered headdress on her head and a quiver of arrows on her back, scattering coins and jewels from her outstretched hand. Two muscular bearded men carry the shell on their shoulders. Around them crowd figures in feathered headdresses and furs, among them a youth with a long braid beside an open chest at left, a long-haired beast like a llama, and a man in a fur collar who bends over a woven basket at right. Behind them, spears bristle before a fortress at left while ships ride in a harbor at right, and rays of sunlight break through the clouds above. A ribbon banner across the top bears the name AMERICA.
Europeans of the period often personified the continents as women surrounded by their peoples, creatures, and goods, and here America appears to be cast as a giver of riches. The cartouche at the foot carries the imprint of the German edition, Zu Amsterdam, Bey Jacob von Meurs, auf der Keysersgraft, in der Stadt Meurs, 1673. The same design fronts the 1671 Dutch edition and John Ogilby's English adaptation, whose plate lacks an imprint.
Arnoldus Montanus and De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld
Arnoldus Montanus (ca. 1625–1683), a Dutch minister and schoolmaster, compiled De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld from earlier chronicles and travel accounts without ever crossing the Atlantic. The Amsterdam publisher Jacob van Meurs issued it in 1671 with a wealth of engravings. John Ogilby's English adaptation followed the same year, and Die Unbekante Neue Welt, the German edition attributed to Olfert Dapper, followed in 1673. Its illustrations were drawn by artists who had mostly never seen the Americas either. They mix reported detail with European invention, and they shaped how a generation of European readers pictured the New World.
CONDITION
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