Middle and South America from Asher and the Antiquariaat Forum

Item 27 is an interesting comparison between Dutch colonies in the Americas: Otto Keyens Kurtzer Entwurff Von Neu-Niederland Und Guajana... This is a first German edition from 1672 of a book first published (the only other edition) in Dutch in 1659. Author Otto Keye does a comparison between the Dutch colonies in Guyana and the New Netherlands. Looking back, the New Netherlands would appear to be the more valuable colony. It covered coastal America from what is today Delaware to Rhode Island, including the city of New Amsterdam, now known as New York. However, Keye saw it differently. He believed Guyana, including today's Suriname, was the more valuable because of its warmer climate. Keye was an officer in Guyana, which likely affected his objectivity on the matter, making this a polemic for the southern colony. Of course, by the time this German edition was issued, the question was moot, as the North American colony was being turned over to the British. €4,000 (US $5,135).

Item 49 is a remarkable geographic work: Epitome trium terrae partium, Asiae, Africae et Europae, compendiariam locorum descriptionem continens... The author of this 1534 work was Joachim Vadianus (von Watt). Vadianus was a scholar, being a medical doctor and leader in the Reformation as well as a historian and geographer. The book contains most of the geographic knowledge of the world at its time. What is most significant is the chapter on the still recently discovered America, and in particular, the world map, one of the earliest to display the New World. It shows the complete continent of South America in its recognizable shape, though North America, labeled “Cuba,” is a narrow continent, roughly the width of Spain. What this does show is the degree of separation between North America and Asia. €38,500 (US $49,420).

You may reach the Antiquariaat Forum at +31 (0)30 6011955 or info@forumrarebooks.com. Their website is www.forumrarebooks.com. Asher Rare Books may be reached at +31 (0)30 6011955 or info@asherbooks.com. Their website is www.asherbooks.com.