Montanus' work was perhaps the greatest illustrated book on the New World produced in the seventeenth century. It contained over one hundred beautifully engraved plates, views, and maps of North and South America. The plates vividly depict forts, festivals, occupations, Dutch fleets, battles, religious rites, and customs of the native inhabitants. This important work was translated into German by Olivier Dapper, and into English by John Ogilby. Several of the plates were later acquired by Pierre Vander Aa.

This is a superb view of Todos os Santos Bay (All Saints Bay) with Salvador da Bahia in the background. The engraving illustrates the region when the Dutch were attempting to gain control of the Portuguese colonies in Brazil and her lucrative sugar trade. In 1624 the Dutch captured and sacked the Salvador da Bahia, and held it along with other northeast ports until it was retaken by a Spanish-Portuguese fleet. The city then played a strategically vital role in the Portuguese-Brazilian resistance against the Dutch in the 1630s. This view was taken from the work of Frans Post. His works are some of the earliest European paintings of Brazil and were eagerly reproduced in print by Dutch engravers.

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Condition: B

A dark impression on a sheet that has been archivally backed with tissue to repair a number of short tears in the image caused by water damage. There is light staining and surface soiling.