de Bry Th.
de Bry Th.
Amacao
From the Petits Voyages, book VIII
latin edition
Frankfurt, de Bry sons. 1607
Copper plate engraving
25,5x 32,5 cm
Ample margins, no restorations
Wattis fine art. Early views and maps of Macau, 1570-1890. Hong Kong May 1999
The Portuguese were the first to depict Macao in the West. These were unique drawings, not prints. The oldest manuscript images that I am aware of are in a 1636 album by Antonio de Mariz Carneiro. I add an image where you can see the development over time in building fortifications at strategic points on the peninsula.
De Bry in his Petits Voyages, publishes an engraved view of the city, a nice and convincing birds eye view. There are (at least) two states of this first edition of the first printed view of Macao. The first state of the print is published in the German edition of this de Bry volume, published in 1606. The second, ours in the Latin edition in 1607. The differences are marginal. The second state can be distinguished from the first in the addition of a tree on the right hand lower corner.
Mariz Carneiro, Antonio de: Descricao da Fortaleza de Sofala e das mais da India. Lisboa, Fundacao Oriente. 1990
