Van der nieuwer werelt
The news of the arrival of Europeans to the Americas quickly started percolating into popular literature. One of the most striking examples is the Dutch translation of the Mundus Novus letter by the Antwerp publisher Jan van Doesborch. Van Doesborch’s treatment of Vespucci’s letter is unique; apart from translating it in the vernacular, he transformed it into a chapbook. The story is divided into chapters and is illustrated with six woodcuts of mostly naked natives. The text omits Vespucci’s last name, and hints that “Alberic, the best pilot in the world”, may have been an inhabitant of the Low Countries serving the Portuguese king. The JCB owns the only known copy of this edition.
