Miscellaneous
Maps, views and diagrams of military reviews and encampments
Paraiba and the region of Pernambuco, Brazil, 1634
AFBEELDING DER STADT EN FORTRESSEN VAN PARAYBA
c.1635Etching and engraving; printed on paper; mounted on paper (Mount Type A); gilt edges left, bottom and right | Scale: 1:9,100 approx. | RCIN 722084.a
A map of the mouth of the river Paraiba showing the forts of Saint Antoine and Santa Catharina and the Dutch encampments during their siege of Paraiba from 4 to 19 December 1634 resulting in the surrender of the town to the Dutch West India Company. Oriented with north to top (cardinal points).
The accompanying letterpress text (RCIN 722084.b) includes a key, 1-14, to the numbers on the map and gives an account of the geographical features of Paraiba and the rich resources of the surrounding countryside as well as a background account of the history of the discovery of Brazil, and the trade in wood, and conflicts, etc., by the French and Portuguese.
The account of the action portrayed in this map begins with the leaving of the port of Pernambuco on 25 November 1634 by a fleet of 29 ships with 2340 soldiers on board under the command of Sigismond van Schoppen, Governor of Pernambuco, Colonel Artisciotzky and Jean Corneille Lichthart. The fleet dropped anchor in the mouth of the river Parayba on 4 December, and the account describes the siege of the town of Paraiba.
A reduced version of this map appeared in volume III of Merian’s Theatrum Europaeum (1639) between pp. 336 and 337.
Workshop of Claes Jansz Visscher II (c.1587-1652) (engraver)
Claes Jansz Visscher II (c.1587-1652) (publisher) [bottom right, in a banner held by a fisherman (a play on Visscher’s name):] t ’Amsterdam / Gedruckt by Claes Janss. / Visscher
Watermark: None visible
Condition: one fold line; heavy brown discolouration; worn; mount cropped
Scale: 1:9,100 approx. Scale bar: Een halve Duytsche mijle bestaende in 1000 roede [55 mm = ].
40.3 x 54.2 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
40.9 x 54.6 cm (mount)
Printed title:
AFBEELDING DER STADT EN FORTRESSEN VAN PARAYBA. [top centre, in rectangular cartouche]
Inset:
[bottom left, in a cartouche representing material draped over poles, a small-scale map of the north-eastern Brasilian coast Size: 19.8 x 33.8 cm (neatline). Scale: 1:3,060,000 approx. Scale bar: Miliaria Germanica Duytsche Mylen [75 mm =] 30. Oriented with west to top.
Additional text:
[bottom left, in part of the draped cartouche, a key, 1-14, to features on the main map:] Verclaringe der Cyfergetallen
Annotations:
George III heading: Paraiba Dec.r 1634.
Other annotations: (Recto) none. (Verso) [bottom, left of centre, ink:] A.
George III catalogue entry:
Paraiba A Plan of the Town and Forts of Paraiba taken by the Dutch in December 1634; with a Map of the Coast of Brazil and a Description, by Visscher, 1635.
Subject(s)
João Pessoa [Paraiba], Paraiba, Brazil (07°06ʹ54ʺS 34°51ʹ47ʺW)
Bibliographic reference(s)
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 2960
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
