Period

17th Century

Featured Items

Detail of a printed book shows title page with text in Massachuset and English.

The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

John Eliot
1661
Detail of a printed book shows title page with manuscript notations throughout the blank spaces on the page.

An essay towards the reconciling of differences among Christians...

Roger Williams
circa 1645
Detail from an engraved, hand colored map shows vivid illustrations of celestial sphere with their constellations and zodiac signs around the sun. Labels in Dutch read "Taurus," "Orion," and "Saittarius."

The sea-atlas or the watter-world

Hendrick Doncker
1626-1699
Detail of a manuscript, hand-colored map depicting the Great Lakes, scattered trees depicted on surrounding land, and text in French.

Nouvelle Découverte de plusieurs Nations Dans la Nouvelle France en l'année 1673 et 1674

Louis Joliet
1673-1674
Detail of a printed book shows worn papers and header text reading "An Anagram. Anna Bradestreate" and other text in English.

The tenth muse lately sprung up in America

Anne Bradstreet
1650
Detail of a printed text shows full-page illustrations of tools for the preparation of hot chocolate.

Du Bon usage du thé, du caffé et du chocolat pour la preservation & pour la guerison des maladies.

Nicolas de Blegny
1687
Detail of a printed book shows title of the book at the top of the page and the index with text in English.

Jewes in America. Part 1

Thomas Thorowgood
1652
hand colored map of north America

The north part of America...

Henry Briggs
1625

Related

Engraving of two Nahua men speaking to one another. An angel hovers behind one of the men, preventing him from producing idolatrous speech, while the other has a snakes stemming from his mouth, which is representative of such language.
Fellow's Talk

"Brute animals" and "rational creatures": Defining humanity in the Indigenous-language vocabularies and pedagogies of New Spain

Image of an artificial flower clock, with two hands emerging from clouds on either side holding a numbered circle, and a thorn stemming from the flower's circle pointing at the time.
Fellow's Talk

Earthquakes and Timekeeping Practices in New England, 1600-1800

Simple, printed map of the island of Sicily, showing Mount Etna, Palermo, Messina, Catania, and other cities, which have been labeled by the author.
Fellow's Talk

Comparative Colonialisms? Palermo and the Americas at the JCB

Three sixteenth-century maps. On the left is a map of the western coast of South America including Peru, on the top right a map of the southern part of North America from the Carolinas to the Mexican coast and on the bottom right a map of the northeastern part of Mexico.
Fellow's Talk

From South to North America: A New Perspective on Floridian Studies

Cartouche of the map “La Louisiane…”  made in 1695 by Vincenzo Coronelli
Map of the Month

Vincenzo Coronelli, “Partie occidentale du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France…” Paris : Chez J.B. Nolin, 1688

June 30
Image of Peruvian Print Shop
Lecture

Historia del libro en lenguas originarias de América

Native Americans of present-day Mexico dance around two drummers

Picturing the Past: Indigenous Expressions in Colonial Mexico

Spring 2020
JCB Fellow Juan Cobo Betancourt views an exhibition at the John Carter Brown Library
Meet a JCB Fellow

Juan Cobo Betancourt, Donald L. Saunders Fellow

November 25

See Also

South America

Pedagogical Materials