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De Bry’s America and Merian’s France: Taking Stock at Home and Abroad, 1590-1660
This work-in-progress presentation explores the ways that two popular early modern genres – accounts of travel to distant places, and the more systematic description of discrete regions, which were often called “topographies” – were intertwined in conception, content, and production. Taking as case studies the descriptions of America published from 1590 by the De Bry press and the topographies of European countries published by their heirs, the Merian press, this paper examines the ways in which the authors and publishers approached societies unfamiliar to them in Virginia and in places much closer to home. Significantly, architecture was a consistent interest, and treated in broadly similar ways, whether it was in indigenous settlements in North America or in major European cities.
About the speaker: Kristoffer Neville’s work focuses on the early modern culture in northern Europe, and particularly on the integration into a more coherent and synthetic history of art of regions and traditions that often been seen as distinct. He has recently completed a book on the cultural history and significance of the courts in Copenhagen and Stockholm within northern Europe ca 1550-1720, and is beginning work on a new project on topography as a basis for history writing, with particular focus on its significance for the formation of architectural history. Other ongoing interests include architecture around 1700, prints and publishing, and early architectural literature.