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Auction archive: Lot number 38

FROBISHER, Martin (1535–1594). - De Martini Forbisseri Angli navigatione in regiones occidentis et septentrionis Narratio historica.

Estimate
£15,000 - £20,000
ca. US$24,362 - US$32,483
Price realised:
£21,000
ca. US$34,107
Auction archive: Lot number 38

FROBISHER, Martin (1535–1594). - De Martini Forbisseri Angli navigatione in regiones occidentis et septentrionis Narratio historica.

Estimate
£15,000 - £20,000
ca. US$24,362 - US$32,483
Price realised:
£21,000
ca. US$34,107
Beschreibung:

De Martini Forbisseri Angli navigatione in regiones occidentis et septentrionis Narratio historica.
Nuremberg: Katharina Gerlach, 1580. 12mo. (158 x 99 mm). [44] ff. With the rare folding woodcut plate (160 x 170 mm.) of an Eskimo in a kayak, hunting waterfowl with a spear, dogsleds and sealskin tents in the background. Old vellum. Condition : very light dampstain to outer margin of 3 leaves, folding plate separated at bottom of fold. Acquisition : purchased from Martayan Lan, (2001), $16,000. frobisher's second attempt to find the northwest passage and the first english eyewitness account of america. The belief that Frobisher's first voyage might have discovered a Northwest Passage ("Frobisher's Strait") and the endless quest for gold resulted in the formation of the Company of Cathay, a joint stock corporation, to fund another expedition. Queen Elizabeth contributed considerable funds to the Companuy and provided an additional ship, whose crew included miners and refiners, under the assumption that "gold ore" would be collected at Hall's Island. Embarking with 15 vessels in May of 1577, the fleet arrived at Hall's Island in July and thus began a most disappointing enterprise. Frobisher unsuccessfully tried to take Inuit hunters hostage (to negotiate for the release of the 5 sailors captured by the Eskimo on the previous years voyage). He received an arrow in the buttocks for his trouble (later scholarship uncovered the English captives fate -- released upon Frobisher's departure, then constucted a boat from the materials left behind by their comrades, sailing into oblivion). Frobisher did eventually succeed in obtaining three captives, who were taken back to England when the ships departed, laden with supposed "gold ore." The minerals proved worthless, but the Inuit made a sensation on their return to Bristol. In fact, the subject of the extremely rare plate found in the present copy, is an illustration of a display of hunting prowess put on by one of the Eskimo. The Dutch artist De Heere depicted the kayak and throwing stick used with the spear, but changed the background of the scene from Bristol, to what Settle must have reported as an indictative native view. Sealskin tents and clothing dogs harnessed to a sled and the swift kayak were all accurate to a degree, but typically the artist gave his subjects European features. It is the first illustration of an eskimo in a printed book. The three natives succumbed to the unfamiliar environment, dying within a month of their arrival. This account of Frobisher's voyage to Baffinland and the northern straits by Dionyse Settle (Frobisher is generally considered not literate enough to furnish a printed record) is an exceptional early ethnography on the Inuit, including details of what must have been an extraordinary diet by European tastes (raw meat for instance) but perhaps its primary importance is as "the first book to contain english eyewitness accounts of america." (Parker, Books to Build an Empire , p. 70). The present copy is the first latin edition, translated by Freigius from the French version of Dionyse Settle's “ A True Report . . ., ” the latter printed in 1577. That edition is an exceedingly rare work, virtually unobtainable, though issued without the important eskimo plate (first issued in the French edition of 1578 of which this is a translation). All 16th century imprints of the present title are scarce. Only the German translation of the same year has been sold at auction during the past 30 years. European Americana 580/62; Church 119A (English 1577, edition); Sabin 79345.

Auction archive: Lot number 38
Auction:
Datum:
3 Dec 2009
Auction house:
Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions
16-17 Pall Mall
St James’s
London, SW1Y 5LU
United Kingdom
info@dreweatts.com
+44 (0)20 78398880
Beschreibung:

De Martini Forbisseri Angli navigatione in regiones occidentis et septentrionis Narratio historica.
Nuremberg: Katharina Gerlach, 1580. 12mo. (158 x 99 mm). [44] ff. With the rare folding woodcut plate (160 x 170 mm.) of an Eskimo in a kayak, hunting waterfowl with a spear, dogsleds and sealskin tents in the background. Old vellum. Condition : very light dampstain to outer margin of 3 leaves, folding plate separated at bottom of fold. Acquisition : purchased from Martayan Lan, (2001), $16,000. frobisher's second attempt to find the northwest passage and the first english eyewitness account of america. The belief that Frobisher's first voyage might have discovered a Northwest Passage ("Frobisher's Strait") and the endless quest for gold resulted in the formation of the Company of Cathay, a joint stock corporation, to fund another expedition. Queen Elizabeth contributed considerable funds to the Companuy and provided an additional ship, whose crew included miners and refiners, under the assumption that "gold ore" would be collected at Hall's Island. Embarking with 15 vessels in May of 1577, the fleet arrived at Hall's Island in July and thus began a most disappointing enterprise. Frobisher unsuccessfully tried to take Inuit hunters hostage (to negotiate for the release of the 5 sailors captured by the Eskimo on the previous years voyage). He received an arrow in the buttocks for his trouble (later scholarship uncovered the English captives fate -- released upon Frobisher's departure, then constucted a boat from the materials left behind by their comrades, sailing into oblivion). Frobisher did eventually succeed in obtaining three captives, who were taken back to England when the ships departed, laden with supposed "gold ore." The minerals proved worthless, but the Inuit made a sensation on their return to Bristol. In fact, the subject of the extremely rare plate found in the present copy, is an illustration of a display of hunting prowess put on by one of the Eskimo. The Dutch artist De Heere depicted the kayak and throwing stick used with the spear, but changed the background of the scene from Bristol, to what Settle must have reported as an indictative native view. Sealskin tents and clothing dogs harnessed to a sled and the swift kayak were all accurate to a degree, but typically the artist gave his subjects European features. It is the first illustration of an eskimo in a printed book. The three natives succumbed to the unfamiliar environment, dying within a month of their arrival. This account of Frobisher's voyage to Baffinland and the northern straits by Dionyse Settle (Frobisher is generally considered not literate enough to furnish a printed record) is an exceptional early ethnography on the Inuit, including details of what must have been an extraordinary diet by European tastes (raw meat for instance) but perhaps its primary importance is as "the first book to contain english eyewitness accounts of america." (Parker, Books to Build an Empire , p. 70). The present copy is the first latin edition, translated by Freigius from the French version of Dionyse Settle's “ A True Report . . ., ” the latter printed in 1577. That edition is an exceedingly rare work, virtually unobtainable, though issued without the important eskimo plate (first issued in the French edition of 1578 of which this is a translation). All 16th century imprints of the present title are scarce. Only the German translation of the same year has been sold at auction during the past 30 years. European Americana 580/62; Church 119A (English 1577, edition); Sabin 79345.

Auction archive: Lot number 38
Auction:
Datum:
3 Dec 2009
Auction house:
Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions
16-17 Pall Mall
St James’s
London, SW1Y 5LU
United Kingdom
info@dreweatts.com
+44 (0)20 78398880
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