{"title":"Encounters and Empires: Africa, America, and the Early Modern World","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"501\" data-end=\"884\"\u003eThis curated collection brings together six exceptional works that illuminate early encounters between Europe, Africa, and the Americas from the sixteenth through seventeenth centuries. Spanning cartography, manuscript culture, printed atlases, and visual documentation, these works reflect moments of exploration, encounter, cultural exchange, and the moral reckoning that followed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"886\" data-end=\"1261\"\u003eTogether, they trace how geography, knowledge, power, and human experience were recorded and understood during a formative period of global history. From the earliest printed atlases of Africa to a foundational manuscript of Germantown, these works invite reflection on exploration, settlement, trade, and the individuals who shaped — and challenged — the world being formed.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"william-henry-brooke-preparatory-watercolor-slaves-shipping-cotton-1842","title":"William Henry Brooke, Preparatory Watercolor for “Slaves Shipping Cotton by Torch-Light” (1842)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis rare preparatory drawing by William Henry Brooke served as the foundation for an early published visual critique of slavery in the United States. Created for James Silk Buckingham’s \u003cem\u003eThe Slave States of America\u003c\/em\u003e (London, 1842), the image records forced labor along the Alabama River with emotional restraint and historical clarity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBuckingham’s account helped shape British public understanding of American slavery and the growing abolitionist movement. As a primary visual document, the drawing offers a contemporaneous perspective on a system that caused immense harm and injustice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMedium:\u003c\/strong\u003e Pen, ink, and watercolor wash, heightened in white, on paper\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1842\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSheet size:\u003c\/strong\u003e 8 3\/4 × 10 3\/4 in\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFramed:\u003c\/strong\u003e 16 × 18 in\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Arader Galleries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45159752957996,"sku":null,"price":125000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Brooke.jpg?v=1767219499"},{"product_id":"giacomo-gastaldi-map-of-africa-venice-1564","title":"Giacomo Gastaldi, Il disegno della geografia moderna de tutta la parte dell’ Africa (Venice, 1564)","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"294\" data-end=\"401\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"294\" data-end=\"330\"\u003eGiacomo Gastaldi (ca. 1500–1566)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"330\" data-end=\"333\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"333\" data-end=\"399\"\u003eIl disegno della geografia moderna de tutta la parte dell’Africa\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"403\" data-end=\"461\"\u003eVenice: Fabio Licinio, 1564\u003cbr data-start=\"430\" data-end=\"433\"\u003eFirst edition, first state\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"463\" data-end=\"561\"\u003e“Probably the single most important and influential map of Africa of the sixteenth century” (Betz)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGiacomo Gastaldi’s large-scale wall map of Africa, engraved and published by Fabio Licinio, is a cornerstone of Renaissance cartography. It synthesizes classical geography with information from sixteenth-century exploration and travel accounts, influencing many later maps of the continent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe map reflects a transitional moment in European geographic knowledge, blending inherited sources with emerging empirical observation. Its scale, detail, and wide impact make it one of the most consequential printed representations of Africa from the sixteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMedium:\u003c\/strong\u003e Engraved map on 8 sheets, joined\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePlace and date:\u003c\/strong\u003e Venice, 1564\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"871\" data-end=\"1904\"\u003eThis monumental wall map belongs to the early visual framework through which Europe came to understand, categorize, and ultimately dominate the African continent. Produced at a moment when Portuguese maritime networks were firmly established along Africa’s coasts, the map reflects the geographic knowledge that underpinned expanding systems of trade, extraction, and forced human movement. Rivers, ports, and inland routes are emphasized in ways aligned with commercial and navigational priorities, corresponding to the same corridors used for gold, ivory, and enslaved Africans. While the map does not depict the slave trade explicitly, it functioned within the intellectual and economic infrastructure that enabled transatlantic slavery, transforming African geographies into legible, tradable spaces for European powers. In this sense, the map stands not only as a landmark of Renaissance cartography, but also as a document of the emerging colonial worldview that reshaped Africa and the Atlantic world in the sixteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1906\" data-end=\"2414\"\u003eGiacomo Gastaldi’s wall map of Africa is widely regarded as the most influential printed representation of the continent produced during the sixteenth century. Engraved and published in Venice in 1564 by his close collaborator Fabio Licinio, the map synthesizes classical geographic traditions with the rapidly expanding body of information derived from Portuguese exploration and Renaissance travel literature. Its scale, ambition, and clarity mark a decisive moment in the European visualization of Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2416\" data-end=\"2890\"\u003eAlthough issued after Paolo Forlani’s African maps of 1562 and 1563, scholarship suggests that Gastaldi completed the design several years earlier. Bifolco and Ronca argue that publication was deliberately delayed until 1564 in order to dedicate the map to Maximilian II of Habsburg, newly proclaimed King of the Holy Roman Empire that year. The map thus appears at a precise historical moment when geographic knowledge, political authority, and imperial ambition converged.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2892\" data-end=\"3690\"\u003eThe map corrects and expands upon Gastaldi’s own smaller Africa map of 1554. Most notably, the southern tip of Africa is shifted significantly westward, correcting a long-standing eastward distortion found in earlier cartography. The hydrography of the continent is rendered with unprecedented complexity. The Zembere River rises from a western Ptolemaic lake, crosses a mountainous interior, and divides into the Zambezi and Limpopo before reaching the southeastern coast. In southern Africa, the legendary gold-bearing region is anchored by the twin cities of Zimbro and Simbaoe, an early cartographic reference to Great Zimbabwe. In West Africa, the Niger River flows westward from the Lago del Niger toward the Atlantic, passing through interior lakes evocative of Lake Chad and the Lago Guber.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3692\" data-end=\"4315\"\u003eGastaldi drew upon an exceptional range of sources. These included his own maps prepared for the \u003cem data-start=\"3789\" data-end=\"3811\"\u003eGeografia di Tolomeo\u003c\/em\u003e (1548), the painted wall map executed for the Palazzo Ducale in Venice in 1549, and his work for Ramusio’s \u003cem data-start=\"3919\" data-end=\"3942\"\u003eNavigationi et Viaggi\u003c\/em\u003e, first published in 1550. Additional information was derived from travel accounts by Francisco Álvares, João de Barros, and Duarte Barbosa, particularly for the African interior and eastern coast. According to Sims, Gastaldi also relied extensively on Portuguese nautical charts, lending the map a level of empirical authority unmatched by earlier printed representations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4317\" data-end=\"4636\"\u003eThe influence of this map was immediate and enduring. It served as the primary model for later depictions of Africa by Gerard de Jode, Giovanni Francesco Camocio, Donato Bertelli, and Cornelis de Jode. For this reason, Gastaldi’s wall map is widely regarded as the definitive Renaissance image of the African continent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4638\" data-end=\"4911\"\u003eBifolco and Ronca record nineteen known examples of the first state, seven of which, like the present example, lack the non-cartographic lower-left sheet. The second state, issued in 1565, is distinguished by the addition of three cartouches and a revised publication date.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4913\" data-end=\"4965\"\u003eReferences: Betz 9; Bifolco–Ronca I.93 (pp. 430–433)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arader Galleries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45159752990764,"sku":null,"price":275000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/GastaldiAfrica.jpg?v=1767219581"},{"product_id":"livio-sanuto-geografia-atlas-of-africa-venice-1588","title":"Livio Sanuto, Geografia di M. Livio Sanuto… Con XII tavole di essa Africa (Venice, 1588)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis first edition of Livio Sanuto’s \u003cem\u003eGeografia\u003c\/em\u003e is widely recognized as the first printed atlas devoted entirely to Africa. Completed and published after Sanuto’s death, the volume gathers twelve engraved maps and an extensive text reflecting Renaissance Europe’s expanding geographic curiosity and information networks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe atlas draws on classical authorities and contemporary accounts, offering a unified vision of the continent as understood in the late sixteenth century. It remains a key work in the history of cartographic publishing and the transmission of geographic knowledge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Folio\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication:\u003c\/strong\u003e Venice, 1588\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContents:\u003c\/strong\u003e Engraved title and 12 double-page engraved maps\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Arader Galleries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45159753023532,"sku":null,"price":78000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Screenshot_2025-12-31_at_2.23.22_PM.png?v=1767219860"},{"product_id":"john-ogilby-africa-london-1670","title":"John Ogilby, Africa (London, 1670)","description":"\u003cp\u003eJohn Ogilby’s \u003cem\u003eAfrica\u003c\/em\u003e (1670) is one of the most ambitious English-language compilations on the continent in the seventeenth century. Drawing on Dutch and Portuguese sources, it presents geography, coastal descriptions, and illustrated views that reflect both the era’s curiosity and the limitations of European knowledge at the time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith extensive engraved maps and plates, the volume is a landmark of early modern book production and geographic literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Folio\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication:\u003c\/strong\u003e London, 1670\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrations:\u003c\/strong\u003e Engraved maps, views, and plates\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Arader Galleries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45159753056300,"sku":null,"price":12000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Screenshot_2025-12-31_at_2.25.59_PM.png?v=1767220054"},{"product_id":"francis-daniel-pastorius-manuscript-plan-germantown-ca-1686-1687","title":"Francis Daniel Pastorius, Manuscript Plan of Germantown, Pennsylvania (ca. 1686–1687)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis manuscript map is the original plan of Germantown, drawn by Francis Daniel Pastorius, founder of the settlement and an early advocate for human rights in colonial North America. Created soon after Germantown’s establishment, it records boundaries, natural features, and early lot divisions, providing a rare, close view of community formation in the late seventeenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work is closely associated with Germantown’s early tradition of ethical reflection, including the 1688 petition that opposed slavery. As an object of documentary and historical importance, it is among the earliest surviving American town plans.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMedium:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ink manuscript on paper\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e ca. 1686–1687\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSheet size:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15 11\/16 × 9 15\/16 in\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"124\" data-end=\"225\"\u003eFrancis Daniel Pastorius\u003cbr data-start=\"148\" data-end=\"151\"\u003eManuscript plan of Germantown, Pennsylvania\u003cbr data-start=\"194\" data-end=\"197\"\u003ewith manuscript descriptions\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"227\" data-end=\"302\"\u003eTHE ORIGINAL PLAN OF GERMANTOWN\u003cbr data-start=\"258\" data-end=\"261\"\u003eTHE CRADLE OF GERMAN AMERICAN IMMIGRATION\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"304\" data-end=\"398\"\u003eGermantown, Pennsylvania: approximately 1686 to 1687\u003cbr data-start=\"356\" data-end=\"359\"\u003eScale approximately 1 inch to 1000 feet\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"400\" data-end=\"515\"\u003eBroadsheet document\u003cbr data-start=\"419\" data-end=\"422\"\u003eSheet size: 15 11\/16 x 9 15\/16 inches, or 399 x 253 mm\u003cbr data-start=\"476\" data-end=\"479\"\u003eFrame size: 20 3\/8 x 14 11\/16 inches\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"517\" data-end=\"667\"\u003eThe map and annotations appear on the front side\u003cbr data-start=\"565\" data-end=\"568\"\u003eA detailed description of the settlement appears on the back side\u003cbr data-start=\"633\" data-end=\"636\"\u003eAll elements are written in ink\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"669\" data-end=\"1079\"\u003eThe document shows three original folds creating eight separate panels. The folds produced some splits and small losses, and careful repairs improved those areas. The paper displays scattered browning and minor bleed through from the ink. Small pinpricks indicate that the sheet was prepared for copying. The sheet is fully matted and framed, and the back side is glazed so the manuscript text remains visible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1081\" data-end=\"1619\"\u003eFranz Daniel Pastorius was born in 1651 in Sommerhausen in the Duchy of Franconia, located within modern Bavaria, Germany. He earned a Doctorate in Law in 1675 and practiced and taught law for several years. In 1680 he traveled abroad, including to England. After returning home in 1682, he learned about the early Christian communities that William Penn established in Pennsylvania. The new colony promised tolerance, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. Pastorius immigrated to the New World and landed there on August 16, 1683.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1621\" data-end=\"2050\"\u003ePastorius quickly formed a strong friendship with William Penn himself. A note written by Pastorius on the right side of the map refers to Springfield, which he identifies as the manor of William Penn. Penn represented the ideal of religious tolerance. Pastorius represented the ideal of opposition to slavery. Together they illuminated the early Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with principles that shaped the future of the region.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2052\" data-end=\"2502\"\u003ePastorius purchased land from Penn north northwest of Philadelphia and created Germantown as a planned settlement for German, Dutch, and Swiss immigrants from the Rhine Valley. The town welcomed many Protestant denominations, including Lutheran, Mennonite, Quaker, Pietist, Brethren, and others. In 1688 the Germantown Quakers produced the first organized American petition condemning slavery, known as the Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2504\" data-end=\"2806\"\u003eThe present item is the original manuscript town plan of Germantown drawn in the hand of Pastorius himself. Additional text appears in a second hand, possibly added by a clerk or assistant. The plan ranks among the earliest surviving American town plans and stands as an unparalleled historical source.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2808\" data-end=\"3220\"\u003eThe map is oriented with Southwest at the top. It clearly shows the local river system, including the Schuylkill River to the Southeast and its tributaries. It outlines the measured boundaries of the Germantown settlement. Trees of different species mark the corners of the property. Those species include walnut, ash, Spanish oak, and white oak. Roads and internal lot boundaries appear within the plan as well.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3222\" data-end=\"3649\"\u003eThe lot holders appear by name in the upper right corner. Their names follow the spatial order of the lots. Notes beside each name indicate whether the person lived in Germantown or remained in Europe. Duffin dates the map itself to late 1686 or early 1687 based on the arrival dates of the known settlers. Marginal notes at the bottom record later events in the town, including the election of Pastorius as mayor in July 1688.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3651\" data-end=\"4208\"\u003eThe back side of the sheet contains a 35 line manuscript description headed Situation of Germantownship in Pennsylvania, Six English Miles from Philadelphia. Pastorius originally calculated the size of the township as 5,190 acres. A resurvey conducted from December 29, 1687 into January 1688 increased the total to 5,700 acres. Pastorius describes the location of Germantown in relation to nearby natural landmarks and nearby settlements. He also lists the original landowners, their origins, hereditary rights, and the extent of their individual holdings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4210\" data-end=\"4689\"\u003eThis map belonged to Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker, Governor of Pennsylvania from 1843 to 1916. Pennypacker enthusiastically collected historical Pennsylvania documents. He reproduced the map as illustration 104 in his 1899 book Settlement of Germantown. The reproduction carried the notation From the original in the library of the Author. Later auctions dispersed large portions of his collection between 1905 and 1909. The present item does not appear in those auction catalogs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4691\" data-end=\"4855\"\u003eA note attached to the back of the frame claims that the map was possibly the personal copy of William Penn. That claim remains difficult to assess with confidence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4857\" data-end=\"5008\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003eReference\u003cbr data-start=\"4866\" data-end=\"4869\"\u003eJames M. Duffin\u003cbr data-start=\"4884\" data-end=\"4887\"\u003eThe First Map of Germantown, A Neglected Source\u003cbr data-start=\"4934\" data-end=\"4937\"\u003eThe Germantown Crier\u003cbr data-start=\"4957\" data-end=\"4960\"\u003eVolume 44, Number 2\u003cbr data-start=\"4979\" data-end=\"4982\"\u003eFall 1992\u003cbr data-start=\"4991\" data-end=\"4994\"\u003ePages 4 to 17.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arader Galleries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45159753089068,"sku":null,"price":900000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Screenshot2025-12-31at2.30.11PM.png?v=1767220258"}],"url":"https:\/\/aradernyc.com\/collections\/encounters-and-empires-africa-america-and-the-early-modern-world.oembed","provider":"Arader Galleries","version":"1.0","type":"link"}