The Rare Books, Maps & Manuscripts Collection presents Complete Set of Theodore de Bry’s Voyages in Latin

The complete collection includes Grands Voyages (America) and the Petits Voyages (Africa and Asia) – a rarity in the auction world, making this a unique opportunity for collectors.

Theodor de Bry, an engraver and founder of a great publishing firm, completed the first part in 1590, and managed to publish five more before he died in 1598 – his wife and sons then took over the task of completing the Grands Voyages and began the Petits Voyages that concluded in 1634. De Bry's Voyages were immediately popular and would, over time, become the founding iconography of the Americas and the East Indies in the European mind for an unforeseeable future.

This opus took over 40 years to produce, and the voyages were published over nearly half a century. Particularly important travels in the collection are Hariot's Virginia, Le Moyne's Florida and Stadius's Brazil, voyages of Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, and Cavendish, as well as voyages of Vespucci and Smith's description of New England.

“These engravings were a window that gave the Europeans a mindblowing possibility – to view life and happenings on a different continent they knew nothing about. De Bry wanted to make sure the general public understood what was happening across the Atlantic Ocean and what the colonizing Europeans were up to. In an effort to make it available to as many as possible, he focused on the imagery and illustrated them as detailed as he could,” says Katharina Fahlstedt, Head of the Department for Books, Maps & Manuscripts at Stockholms Auktionsverk.

The collection that is up for auction at Stockholms Auktionsverk consists of eleven volumes, where the first volume is considered the most rare and valuable as it contains a high number of important engravings and maps that were printed in a smaller edition.

The asking price for de Bry's Voyages is set at 224 000 – 258 000 EUR.

The Rare Books, Maps & Manuscripts Collection auction will be held on June 10 at Nybrogatan 32 in Stockholm.