When Flemish engraver and publisher Theodore de Bry issued the first volume of his America series in 1590, the New World was, for most Europeans, truly novel. Gleaned from the travel accounts of adventurers like Thomas Harriot, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir Walter Raleigh, De Bry's magnificent engravings brought the new continent and its inhabitants to an enraptured audience across the Atlantic. From "Virginia" (today's North Carolina) and Florida through Central America and down into Patagonia, the first nine volumes of America depict scenery and encounters between native Americans and Europeans, revealing the latter's perceptions of the former. Portrayals of European discovery and native American customs were based on the explorers' reports as well as De Bry's own imagination, he himself never having traveled to the New World.

TASCHEN's edition pays homage to De Bry's finesse, reprinting all 218 plates from the first nine volumes alongside their respective frontispieces and continental maps. Volumes I to VI are based on the original hand-

colored editions held at the John Hay and John Carter Brown Libraries at Brown University in Providence; volumes VII to IX are from the Staats- und Stadtbibliothek in Augsburg, Germany.Exceptionally rare even at the time of their completion, De Bry's hand-colored America can finally be admired by all, in XXL resolution.

当佛兰德雕刻家、出版商西奥多•德•布雷在1590年发行《美洲》游记系列**卷时，美洲大陆新世界对于大多数欧洲人而言，确实是新奇的。德•布雷无与伦比的雕刻版画从托马斯•哈里奥特、弗朗西斯•德雷克爵士、沃尔特•雷利爵士这样的探险家所撰的旅行记录中收集故事，这些版画带着这片新大陆和它的居民横跨大西洋，来到了欣喜若狂的观众面前。从“维吉尼亚州”（今天的南卡罗来纳州）和佛罗里达州，穿过美洲中部，一直南下至巴塔哥尼亚，《美洲》开篇的九卷刻画了美丽的景致以及美洲土著与欧洲人相遇的场景，揭示了后者对前者的认知。版画中对欧洲人的发现和美洲土著风俗的描述，是基于探索者的报告和德•布雷的想象，德•布雷从未涉足美洲大陆新世界。

本书是向德•布雷精品的致敬。本书重新刊印了开篇9卷218幅雕刻版画，以及它们各自的卷首插图和大陆图。卷1到4基于约翰•海伊的藏品、基于位于普罗维登斯的布朗大学约翰•卡特•布朗图书馆馆藏的原始手涂上色版本；卷7到卷9来自位于德国奥斯伯格的斯图加特图书馆。极为难得的是，德•布雷手涂上色的美洲终于能在加加大的分辨率中供所有人欣赏。