Period

16th Century

Featured Items

Detail of a printed text shows an illustration of four naked Natives surrounded by trees. One holds a cross bow and another holds a large stick. Text in Dutch is also visible.

Van der nieuwer werelt

Amerigo Vespucci
1509
Printed text shows a circular diagram below text in Latin.

Breves in sphaeram meditatiunculae

Bartholomaeus Mercator
1563
Detail of brown book binding shows the embossed details.

La istoria de las Indias. y Conquista de Mexico

López de Gómara
1552
Detail of a colored manuscript atlas shows a coastal region and labels in Latin. Other details include drawings of castles and mountains.

[Portolan atlas] / Vesconte de Maiolo ciuis Janue conposuy

Vesconte Maggiolo
1511
Detail of an engraved map shows mountainous topography and text in Italian.

Descrittione di tutto il Peru

Paulo di Forlani
circa 1564-1572
Detail of a hand colored, woodcut map shows Africa. Some details shown include labels in Latin and mountains.

Orbis Typus Vniversalis Iuxta Hydrographorum Traditionem

1513
Detail of a fold-out printed map shows town square in the center, surrounding buildings, and ships at sea at the outer perimeter.

Praeclara Ferdina[n]di.

Hernán Cortés
1524
Detail of Mundus Novus' title page which depicts two monkeys sitting by a tree, framed by plants and text in Latin.

Mundus novus

Amerigo Vespucci
1503

Related

Lecture

Ethnography and Natural History from the New World to the Philippines

Fellow's Talk

“unos a otros se ayuden”: Colonial Encounters with Maya Houses and Housebuilding

Fellow's Talk

Sir Walter Ralegh’s Discoverie of Guiana: Courtesy and Piracy in the Poetics of translatio imperii studiique

Fellow's Talk

Encompassing the Globe: The Iberian Atlantic in the Age of Don Quijote

Detail from: Figure des Brisilians. [Rouen, 1551]. Original at the John Carter Brown Library.
Fellow's Talk

Un certain simulacre de la verité: Performances and Performative Readings in the Figure des Brisilians (1551)

Image from: Mr. Garrick delivering his Ode, London. [John Lodge 1770]. Original at the John Carter Brown Library.
Lecture

If, And or But: What we can learn from ten words in Shakespeare

Image from: Mr. Garrick delivering his Ode, London. [John Lodge 1770]. Original at the John Carter Brown Library.
Lecture

Ten Things I Learned From Shakespeare

Image from: Inca or Indians of Peru. [N. Guérard le fils, 1717]. Original image at the John Carter Brown Library.
Fellow's Talk

Daughters of the Inca Conquest: Indigenous Noble Women in Colonial Peru

See Also

Recent Acquisition

Atlas