Linschoten, Jan Huygen van:

$20,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

[ICONES, HABITUS GETUSQUE INDORUM AC LUSITANORUM PER INDIAM VIVENTIUM, TEMPLORUM AEDIUM, ARBORUM, FRUTUM, HERBARUM, AROMATUM]. This extremely rare portfolio of plates consists of fine early impressions of Linschoten's famous views of Portuguese Asia. They are among the first eyewitness illustrations of the East to reach Europe, and were by far the most widely disseminated. Donald Lach has called them "a watershed in Europe's pictorial impression of Asia." They rank among the most influential images of the period, and appeared in the many subsequent editions of Linschoten's works. The illustrations were executed by Joannes and Baptista Doetechum from sketches brought back by Linschoten. Linschoten described the images of the people, places, methods of travel, and animals of Asia as "counterfeits from life," which would give a realistic representation of what he saw, but also a general perception of the reality of the distant East. In the present copy, a large, double-page view of Goa is missing, while two maps, one of Mozambique and one of Ascension Island, have been added. Also added is an untitled panorama of an Indonesian or Malaysian procession. This plate is likely connected to the 1598 Claesz publication of Houtman & Loewijk's account of the first Dutch expedition.It seems clear that the present item is one of the very rare issues of the plates produced for separate sale by Linschoten's publisher, Cornelis Claesz. Claesz sold the images and maps separately from the ITINE

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