Antique Print-PRISONERS-LABOUR-FORCED-DEFENCE-STONEMASON-p. 207-Baldaeus-1672

Price: € 69,50

Subject: Plate 207, it shows: Portuguese prisoners, with chains on their ankles, erecting stonework defensive structures in Ceylon. In the foreground a man is working on a slab with hammer and chisel, while another man brings a fresh load.

Condition: Good, given age. Lower edge of the sheet browned, a small wormhole in the lower margin, a small spot of paper erosion in the image. General age-related toning and light staining, please study scan carefully.

Medium: Scarce original etching / engraving on a verge type hand laid paper. Letterpress text on front and rear of the sheet.

Size (in cm): The overall size is ca. 19.5 x 29.5 cm. The image size is ca. 16.5 x 12.5 cm.

Size (in inch): The overall size is ca. 7.7 x 11.6 inch. The image size is ca. 6.5 x 4.9 inch.

Part Number: 33292

Location: A203-18

Description: This original engraving originates from the 1672 German edition of Baldaeus' 'Nauwkeurige beschrijving Malabar en Choromandel, derz. aangrenzend rijken, en het machtige eiland Ceylon.' (transl: Description of the East Indian Countries of Malabar, Coromandel, Ceylon, etc.), printed in Amsterdam by Jacob van Velsen and published by Johannes Janssonius van Waesbergen en Johannes van Someren.

Artists and Engravers: Author: Philip Baldaeus (1632-1672). Father Philippus Baldaeus, Baelde or Philip Balde (October 1632, Delft ï¿½ 1672, Geervliet) was a Dutch minister. He went to Jaffna, Ceylon with an invading Dutch force during 17th Century. As the first European he documented the life, language and culture of Tamil people, living in the north of the island. It is a great historical record, similar to Mahawamsa, and it was immediately published in Dutch and German (with many beautiful plates). Some lates in this work signed G. Appelmans fe., being the engraver.