The Definitive Dwiggins no. 703B—How the Old World Found the New: Columbus and Magellan

This is the second installment of a detailed account of each of the illustrations in How the Old World Found the New that I believe Dwiggins reworked in varying degrees. [1] They are presented in the order in which they appear in the book, preceded by notes on their probable source and, wherever possible, primary and secondary images. This installment covers pages 62 to 116 relating to the voyages of Chistopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan.

List of reworked illustrations and their sources for pp. 62-116
p. 62 “A Cross Staff”

A cross-staff, also know as a Jacob’s staff was an early navigational tool used to measure the altitude or distance of an object above sea level or the horizon. Although I have found the illustration that is the basis for “A Cross Staff,” I have not been able to identify its source. [2] In Dwiggins’ version, the head of the man in the ocean has been changed.

Woodcut illustration of a cross-staff (n.d.).

“Cross Staff” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 62. Illustration by W.A. Dwiggins after 17th c. woodcut.

p. 67 “Columbus’s Fleet”

This illustration is based on one allegedly made by Christopher Columbus himself. It was reproduced in The Journal of Christopher Columbus: (During his First Voyage, 1492-93), and Documents Relating to the Voyages of John Cabot and Gaspar Corte Real translated by Clements R. Markham (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1893), following p. iv. Only minimal redrawing has been done, principally in the waves below the middle ship.

“The Three Vessels of the First Voyage of Columbus” from The Journal of Christopher Columbus translated by Clements R. Markham (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1893), following p. iv.

“Columbus’s Fleet” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 67.

p. 71 “Columbus Landing in the New World”

This often reproduced illustration was originally made by Theodor de Bry (1528–1598). It comes from part 4 of America published in 1594 where it is entitled “Columbus in India primo appellens, magnis excipitur muneribus ab Incolis.” It reappears in numerous books including The Life of Christopher Columbus for Boys and Girls by Charles W. Moores (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin Co., 1912), p. 45. It has also been titled “The Landing of Columbus” or “Columbus Greeted by Native Caribbeans”. Along with removing all of the shading in de Bry’s original, Dwiggins has clothed the natives, cut out one of the men running in the background at the right, and reduced the amount of foliage. Was the added modesty his idea or that of J. Montgomery Gambrill, the book’s editor?

“Columbus in India appellens, magnis excipitur muncribus ab Incolis” from Americae pars quarta… by Theodor de Bry (Frankfurt am Main: Johann Feyrabend, 1594).

“Columbus Landing in the New World” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 71. Illustration by W.A. Dwiggins after Theodore de Bry.

p. 72 “First Picture of the Indians”

This illustration is based on a woodcut published in 1505 by Johann Froschauer of Augsburg which accompanied Amerigo Vespucci’s Mundus Novus letter about his voyage to the New World. It is reproduced in A Book of Discovery by M.B. Synge (London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1912), p. 163 (captioned “The First Representation of the People of the New World”), which is probably the source for Dwiggins’ redrawing. The Froschauer woodcut is notorious for its depiction of “cannibalism and open love-making”. [3] Dwiggins’ redrawing leaves out these aspects, undoubtedly at the request of Gambrill. The severed arm being eaten by the figure at the top left and the body parts hanging from a tree in the middle of the illustration are gone. The man and woman kissing at the left have been transformed into two men talking, and the infant in the foreground is no longer suckling at its mother’s breast. Dwiggins has done such an excellent job of preserving the visual look of the original woodcut that these editorial modifications are nearly invisible.

“The First representation of the People of the New World” from A Book of Discovery by M.B. Synge (London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1912), p. 163.

“First Picture of the ‘Indians'” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 72.

p. 83 “The Arrest of Columbus”

This is derived from another engraving by de Bry from part 4 of America (1594) titled “Columbus cum fratre Bartholmaeo captus in Hispaniam mittitur.” Dwiggins’ redrawing hews very closely to de Bry’s original, except that, for some unknown reason, he has deleted the two tiny figures between the trees in the distance at center.

“Columbus cum fratre Bartholomaeo captus in Hispaniam mittitur” from Americae pars quarta… by Theodor de Bry (Frankfurt am Main: Johann Feyrabend, 1594). Image from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

“The Arrest of Columbus” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 83.

p. 94 “A Fleet of Magellan’s Time”

Dwiggins’ probably copied the illustration in A Book of Discovery by M.B. Synge (London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1912), p. 197 which took its depiction of Fernando Magellan’s fleet from Gerard Mercator’s Mappe Monde of 1569. (The seven ships and fish are visible to the left of South America.) Dwiggins has tidied up the shading, the waves, and (especially) the fish.

“An Atlantic Fleet of Magellan’s Time” from A Book of Discovery by M.B. Synge (London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1912), p. 197. Taken from Mappe Monde (1569) by Gerard Mercator.

“A Fleet of Magellan’s Time” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 94.

p. 97 “Sailors Killing Penguins on the South American Coast”

“Qvae Pingvinarvm, Magno Nvmero ab Hollandis Captarum, facies fuerit” by de Bry from part 9 of Americæ (Frankfurt am Main: Matthias Becker, 1602), Plate XXV is the original source for this disturbing illustration of penguins being clubbed to death by Spanish sailors. Dwiggins has recropped the scene, but otherwise has done little else to the illustration.

“Qvae Pingvinarvm, Magno Nvmero ab Hollandis Captarum, facies fuerit” from Americae nona & postrema pars… by Theodor de Bry (Frankfurt am Main: Matthias Becker, 1602), Plate XXV.

“Sailors Killing Penguins on the South American Coast” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 97.

p. 100 “An Old Picture of Magellan in the Strait”

This allegorical illustration of Magellan in the strait that now bears his name comes originally from Americae Retectio (published by Philips Galle, c.1589), a series of four plates commemorating the successive discoveries of America by Christopher Columbus, Americus Vespucci, and Ferdinand Magellan, designed by Johannes Stradanus (1523–1605) and engraved by Adrianus Collaert (c.1560-1618). It is Plate 4 in the portfolio. [4]

“Ferdinandes Magalanes Lvsitvs” from Americae Retectio (published by Philips Galle, c.1589), Plate 4. Image from Royal Museum Greenwich.

“An Old Picture of Magellan in the Strait” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 100. Illustration by W.A. Dwiggins after Johannes Stradanus.

Dwiggins has stripped the engraving of most of its allegorical components, leaving only the “Patagonian giant swallowing an arrow”. The image is reversed because Dwiggins was most likely copying the version reproduced in The Life of Ferdinand Magellan and the First Circumnavigation of the Globe 1480–1521 by F.H.H. Guillemard (London, G. Philip & Son, 1890), p. 210.

p. 105 “Savages from the Robber Islands Swarming Out to a European Ship”

This is derived from yet another engraving by de Bry. It is “Quid in Ladrones insula Hollandis acciderit” in his Americæ nona & postrema pars… (Frankfurt am Main: Matthias Becker, 1602). (The Islas de los Ladrones [Robber Islands or Islands of the Thieves] are the Mariana Islands today.) De Bry’s engraving was reprinted in The Golden Book of the Dutch Navigators by Hendrik Willem van Loon (New York: The Century Co., 1916). Dwiggins’ version is nearly an exact copy. He has straightened the border and deleted the title (in the cloud at the top), but otherwise he has done nothing more than clean up the drawing. Nothing in the scene—apparently an attack on the Dutch ship Mauritius by natives of Borneo—has been changed. 

Illustration from The Golden Book of Dutch Navigators by Hendrik van Loon (New York: The Century Co., 1916), p. 194.

“Savages from the Robber Islands Swarming out to a European Ship” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 105.

p. 110 “Barge of a King of the Spice Islands”

Kora-kora of the King of Tenate from Journael oft Dagh-register… (Amsterdam: Cornelis Claesz, 1601). Image from the Internet Archive.

An engraving of a kora-kora of the King of Ternate in Journael oft Dagh-register… by Jacob Cornelis (Amsterdam: Cornelis Claesz, 1601) is the original basis for “Barge of a King of the Spice Islands.” An edited iteration of it appears as part of Plate 6 of The Voyage of Sir Henry Middleton to the Bantam and the Maluco Islands… (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1855). Dwiggins must have been provided with this degraded version (or a similar one) that needed serious reworking.

Illustration of a kora-kora from The Voyage of Henry Middleton to Bantam and the Moluca Islands… (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1855), Plate 6.

“Barge of a King of the Spice Islands” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 110.

Dwiggins has strengthened all of the lines, opened up the cross-hatching (or dispensed with it altogether), simplified the waves, changed the shading of the flag, and added the missing part of the tiller at far left.

p. 116 “The First Ship that Sailed Around the World”

Dwiggins probably did no work on this illustration since it looks nearly identical to the one in A Book of Discovery by M.B. Synge (London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1912), p. 203. The original illustration comes from Levinus Hulsius’ Collection of Voyages (issued in 26 parts between 1598 and 1650).

“The First Ship that Sailed Round the World” from A Book of Discovery by M.B. Synge (London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1912), p. 203.

“The First Ship that Sailed Round the World” from How the Old World Found the New by Eunice Fuller Barnard and Lida Lee Tall (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1929), p. 116.

Notes
1. See The Definitive Dwiggins no. 702 for an analysis of the different categories of redrawing that Dwiggins undertook for the various illustrations.
2. The source is not Institutio geographica by Adriaan Adriaanszoon (1624), which has a different illustration of a cross-staff with a man kneeling on the horizon.
3. For more about this woodcut see The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia edited by Silvio A. Bedini (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992) vol. I, p. 338. Although the depiction of cannibalism is considered to be untrue, the woodcut is seen as an accurate rendering of the dress of the Tupinambá Indians of Brazil.
4. The Royal Museums Greenwich website says of Plate 4: “This plate illustrates Ferdinand Magellan on his ship. At the centre Magellan is seated by the mast of his ship which bears a Spanish coat of arms. Magellan is holding a pair of compasses in front of an astrolabe. Apollo is represented on the left, carrying his lyre, gazing out towards the viewer and guiding the ship. An array of mythical creatures fill the sea and sky. A bird of prey (possibly the Arabic mythical bird Roc) carries an elephant in top left corner. A male figure with a bow is swallowing an arrow at the right. On the top right corner, a crowned deity (wind god) is seated on a cloud in top right. Inscriptions in Latin. On image: ‘FERDINAN. MAGALA.’ In margin: ‘FERDINANDES MAGALANES LVSITANVS…globum circumijt. An. Sal. ? .D.XXII.'”

Bibliography
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