The New World through European Eyes
Illustrations from Hans Staden’s 1552 voyage which left him shipwrecked in the land of the infamous Tupinambas of Brazil
View of the New World?
We still have an appetite for these kinds of images
John White, Artist/Explorer John White was a British Gentleman, who was part of a 1585 voyage sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh. He did a series of water colors during a two-week encounter with the Algonquians. These images were later used by mathematician Thomas Harriot in his popular book: A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia.
Thomas DeBry, Engravor Today, publishers use a photographic process to reproduce images. Prior to that technology, images were reproduced by engravings. DeBry illustrated many explorer narratives.
Which sets up a comparison… John White’s water colors needed to be transformed into engravings in order to be used as illustrations for a book. Compare the changes between the original water colors and the engravings. What do these suggest about Europeans views of the New World and its inhabitants?