illustrated german broadsides of the

ILLUSTRATED GERMAN BROADSIDES OF THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
D.L.PAISEY
T H E seventeenth century was the great age of the illustrated broadside in Germany,
where its suitability as an instrument of propaganda was exploited to the full. Engravings,
varying in quality from crude to excellent, with images sometimes simple and direct,
sometimes of the complex symbolism which is a Baroque commonplace, were usually
allied with letterpress which might consist of straightforward prose accounts of historical
events or of verse, mostly anonymous, and often bitingly satirical. It must be said that the
general tendency of this particular ephemeral genre is conservative, perhaps an inevitable
concomitant of the relative elaborateness of its make-up.
Like all ephemera, however, these broadsides have survived, if at all, in small numbers.
The Department of Printed Books has therefore been fortunate in augmenting its fine
holdings by the recent acquisition of a collection of thirty-four ranging in date from 1619
to 1673. Half of these relate to the Thirty Years War, from the years 1619-32, ten are of
English interest, and the remainder miscellaneous. One only is illustrated by a woodcut,
all the rest by copperplate engravings, a reflection of the growing dominance of the latter
in this century.
There are no comprehensive catalogues of German broadsides of the seventeenth
century nor, so far, of the holdings of particular libraries, though there is some hope that
a promised catalogue of the broadsides at Wolfenbiittel may inaugurate a series for
German libraries. The British Library's own excellent holdings are entered in the General
Catalogue of Printed Books but are hard to locate because they are not grouped together
either in the catalogue or on the shelves. It seemed to me useful, therefore, to draw
attention to the present small collection by publishing a summary listing of its contents
with, where appropriate, references to other published hsts and descriptions, reproductions, and text reprintings, and with fuller notes for the more interesting and littleknown items. I have been assisted in a number of cases by my colleagues, notably P. C. Hogg
(no. 30). I am, however, aware that a complete handlist of the British Library's holdings
of this material is a real desideratum, and hope it may be possible to produce one as a byproduct of my work on the seventeenth-century German collections.
ABBREVIATIONS
Beller:
Bohatcova:
Coupe:
Drugulin:
Hess:
Muller:
Nagler:
Opel&Cohn
Scheible:
Wascher:
Weller:
Weller Lieder:
Zibrt:
E. A. Beller, Propaganda in Germany during the Thirty Years War. Princeton,
1940. [Beller provides Enghsh translations of the broadsides he reproduces.]
Mirjam Bohatcova, Irrgarten der Schicksale. Einblattdrucke vom Anfang des
Dreissigjahrigen Krieges. Praha, 1966.
W. A. Coupe, The German illustrated broadsheet in the seventeenth century.
Historical and iconographical studies. 2 vols. Baden-Baden, 1966, 1967.
(Bibliotheca bibliographica Aureliana. nos. XVII, XX.)
W. E. Drugulin, Historischer Bilderatlas. Leipzig, 1863.
W. Hess, Himmels- und Naturerscheinungen in Einblattdrucken des XV. bis
XVIII. Jahrhunderts. Leipzig, 1911.
F. Muller, De Nederlandsche geschiedenis in platen, dl. i. Amsterdam, 1863-70.
G.K. Nagler, Neues allgemeines Kiinstler Lexicon. Miinchen, 1835-52.
J. Opel & A. Cohn, Der Dreissigjahrige Krieg. Eine Sammlung von historischen
Gedichten und Prosadarstellungen. Halle, 1862.
J. Scheible, Die fliegenden Blatter des XVI. und XVII. Jahrhunderts, in
sogenannten Einblatt-Drucken. Stuttgart, 1850. [Scheible illustrates his texts
with reduced-size copies of the original engravings, but these are in no sense
facsimiles.]
H. Wascher, Das deutsche illustrierte Flugblatt. Bd. i. Dresden, 1955.
E. Weller, Annalen der poetischen National-Literatur der Deutschen im XVI.
und XVII. Jahrhundert. Freiburg i. 5., 1862.
E. Weller, Die Lieder des Dreissigjahrigen Krieges nach den Originalen
abgedruckt. Basel., 1855.
C. Zibrt, Bibliografie deske historic v Praze, 1900-12.
Unless otherwise stated, all broadsides are single sheets, folio. The listing is chronological.
Pressmarks are as follows:
1-26: Crach. I.Tab.4.C.I {r-26)
28:
29:
30:
1)
„
„
„
31: Crach. i. Tab. 4.C.1 (30)
32:
„
,, 2(2)
1(27)
1(28)
I (29)
33:
34:
>,
.>
>» 1 ( 3 1 )
.. 2 ( 3 )
1. Einzug des Durchleucbtigsten . . . Hern Friederichen erwehlten Konig zu Bohmen . . .
gehalten den 3i.0ctobris Anno 1619. [Frankfort on the Main: Eberhard Kieser, 1.619.]
An engraving by Kieser in seven rows showing the procession by which the ill-fated 'Winter
King', Frederick Elector Palatine, together with his wife Ehzabeth, daughter of James I
of England, and other notables, entered Prague to be crowned King of Bohemia.
Drugulin 1409. Reproduction: Bohatcova 28.
2. Wahre Abcontrafactur dess Processes; welcher bey der Crfinung dess . . . Herrn Friderichen
dess Ersten . . . den 4 Novemb. . . . dess 1619 Jahrs zu Prag gehalten worden. [1619.]
Two sheets, one an engraving in ten compartments showing various stages of Frederick's
57
coroniition, the other with narrative letterpress, including an account of Elizabeth's
coronation on 7 November.
A difterent version of the engraving only (by Eberhard Kieser) is reproduced by Bohatcova
(no. 29). (Fig. I.)
3. Hertzliches Seufftzen vnnd Wehklagen, auch Christlicher Trost . . . vnsers vielgeliebten
Vatterlandes . . . durch einen Liebhaber der G6ttlichen Warheit. 1620.
Verses, with an emblematic engraving. An anti-Catholic prayer for peace.
Weller I, 571. Text: Weller Lieder, pp. 96-9. Reproduction: Wascher 36.
4. Der Caluinischen Vnion Testament, oder letzter Willen. [1621.]
Satirical verses against Frederick's supporters, with an engraving.
Coupe 65; Weller I, 639. Text: Ope! & Cohn 30a. Reproduction (from an imperfect
copy in Bamberg) Coupe, pi. 54.
5. Eygentlicher Abriss dess Scharmutzels bey Neuheusel in Hungern. [Nuremberg, 1621.]
An engraving by H . P . Walch of Nuremberg, showing the death of the Imperial general
Bucquoy on 16 July 1621, with an inset medallion portrait, and with narrative letterpress.
Drugulin 1496; Nagler XXI, 85. A different edition (without Walch's signature) is
reproduced by Bohatcova (no. 106).
6. Des Pfaltzgrafen K6rauss auss B6heim Ober vnd Vnderpfaltz. 1621.
A satirical engraving, with verses in letterpress in praise of Maximilian of Bavaria.
Drugulin 1530; Coupe 130a; Weller I, 628. Text: Scheible 74. Reproduction:
Bohatcova 83.
7. Ein Newe Rahterschafft. [1622.]
Verses on inflation, with an engraving.
Coupe 174; Weller I, 577. Text: Scheible 83. Reproduction: Coupe, pi.94.
8. Alte Geige der Warheit, mit einer newen Quinte. [c. 1622.]
Verses from the inflation period, with an engraving.
Weller III, 533. Text: Opel & Cohn 85.
9. (Sudermann, Daniel) Klag vnd Bettlied der armen . . . beschwerten Bawers vnd Landleuten
in der gantzen Christenheit, vmb den Iieben Frieden. [Signed: D. S.] Strassburg: Jacob von
der Heyden., [c. 1622.]
Verses, with an engraving illustrating the sufferings of peasants at the hands of soldiers
living off the land.
Coupe 239; Weller I, 667. Text: Opel & Cohn 90. Reproduction: Wascher 59.
10. Der lachend vnd wainend Muntz Legat. [1623.]
Two sheets, one an engraving and engraved table, the other with verses in letterpress.
Inflation is again the subject, and its effects on the various social classes, even including
a reference to the Peasants' War of a century before: 'Da haben sie [ = t h e peasants] es so
weit gewagt/Durch Edleut die spiess gejagt.' The table (not reproduced by Scheible)
shows the changes in coin values from 1609 to June 1623, including the devaluation of
October 1622.
Coupe 94; Weller III, 576. Text: Scheible 82.
r-1
6
59
11. Extract zwcycr Particular Schrcihcn, eins an Signor Pladis, von den Rebellischen Bauren
im Land oh der Enss. [1626.]
A satire, illustrated by an engraving, on the revolt of the Lutheran peasants of Upper
Austria in 1626 against the rule of Maximilian of Bavaria. This edition is apparently
unrecorded, hut Drugulin records three others. The reason for the particular popularity
ot this piece is hard to explain, unless the mixture of semi-literate German and Italian in
which the text is written struck contemporaries as funnier than it now seems.
Cf. Drugulin 1681-3. Reproduction: Beller VIII (^Drugulin 1682).
12. Juhileischen Frewden: Loh: vnd Danckfests, Hertzens Auffmunterung. [1630.]
An engraving, with verses in letterpress, celebrating the centenary of the Augsburg
Confession.
Coupe 234; Weller III, 626.
13. Magdeburg. Wie dasselbe . . . von dem Hern Generalen Cserclas Graven von Tilly . . . ist
belagert worden. [Strassburg:] J.ab Heyden, [1631.]
An engraving without letterpress. A hinged flap over the inner city shows the almost
total destruction after the fire. Tilly's horrific sack of Magdeburg in May 1631 gave rise
to a considerable literature, of which this is a particularly vivid example. Further interest
attaches to this copy in that a former owner has added in red pencil the line ofthe siegeworks from a siege of Magdeburg eighty years before Tilly, and the following manuscript
note: 'NB die Rothe strich bedeuten wie dise Statt Jst Ao 1552 [recte 1550-1] belageret
worden, Und sein die Rothe strich Jn der Newstatt mit lauter stiickh [cannon]^ U. Schantz
korben [gabions] besetzet worden, e t c ' This earlier siege came at a time when Magdeburg,
under an Imperial ban, was attacked by George of Mecklenburg in alliance with Maurice
Elector of Saxony. A blockade ofthe city began at the end of September 1550, and siegeworks in October 1550. The Neustadt was taken by night on 28 November 1550 and the
siege-works were continued across it, George of Mecklenburg setting up his headquarters
there. The siege lasted until the end of 1551. Cf. Friedrich Wilhelm Hoffmann: Geschichte
der Stadt Magdeburg^ Bd. i, Magdeburg 1885, pp. 526-69.
Drugulin 1878 (with letterpress).
14. Magdenburger Laug. [1631.]
An engraving, with verses. An attempt by the anti-Imperial party to rebuild morale after
the blow suffered at Magdeburg. Angels make a corrosive lye from the ashes of the city
and the poor inhabitants' tears with which they 'wash the heads' ofthe Imperialists.
Coupe 258; Weller I, 747. Reproduction: Beller X I I ; Wascher 45.
15. Waarhafftige Abbildung vnd Beschreibung, dess grossen . . . Treffens, welches vor . . .
Leiptzig . . . den 7.(17.) September 1631. . . . vorgangen. Nurnberg: Georg Koler., [1631.]
Two sheets, one an engraving ofthe battle of Breitenfeld, the other with narrative letterpress. This battle was a real 'washing of heads' for the Imperial forces under Tilly and
a great victory for Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.
Drugulin 1891.
16. Schlachtordnung Jhrer Konigl. May. zu Schweden vnd des Hertzogen zu Friedland . . .
bey Llitzen. 1632. Abriss der blutigen Schlacht. [1632.]
Two engravings on one sheet, without letterpress, illustrating another major battle,
60
Lutzen, this time a victory for the Imperial forces under Wallcnstein in which Gustavus
Adolphus was killed. There are closely similar, but not identical, engravings by Mcrian
in the Theatrum Europaeum and Lotichius's Latin version ( = Drugulin 2036 and Zibrt V,
11989).
17. Abbildung der hochmutigen Spanier. Capitan Spavento alias Windsturmer. [1632.]
An engraving with satirical verses. Weller records a copy of this broadside, in Ulm, but
places it, undated, between items with a suggested date of 1630. Identification of the subject of this satire - a splendid image - allows us to date it with some precision. The claim
'Diese Contrafactur ist zu Paris in des Marquis de Sancta Croce Kutschenwagen geworffen
worden; als er daselbst durch gereiset', taken with the single line of specific historical
significance in the otherwise generalized puerilities of the verse: Trinz von Uranien,
Pomerantz mir nicht schmeckt', makes it clear that the satire can only date from 1632
and is directed against the Spanish commander in Flanders after the victory of the Prince
of Orange at Maastricht.
Alvaro de Bazan y Benavides, Marques de Santa Cruz de Mudela, had succeeded
Spinola as commander-in-chief of the Spanish forces in Flanders in April 1631. He was
a playboy, not a soldier, and signally failed to relieve the beleaguered garrison at Maastricht,
which fell to Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, after a brilliantly conducted siege
{9 June-12 August 1632). He was held responsible for the loss of this strategically important
fortress town, and was recalled to Spain by Philip IV, at his own request, in November
1632 and replaced by the Marques d'Aytona. The broadside is unlikely to be much later
than November-December 1632, after which Santa Cruz had disappeared from popular
knowledge on the international scene.
He is presented in the guise of Capitan Spavento del ValPInferno, an Italian commedia
delFarte figure, a type of the miles glortosus who was immortalized by Francesco Andreini
(Le bravure del Capitan Spavento, r6o7, second part i6i8)and became familiar in Germany,
at least in court circles in the south and in Austria, from Italian travelling players.
K. M.Lea, in her Italian popular comedy {Oxford, 1934), P-43, says that Andreini's
book was 'the powder magazine for the Captains of the Commedia dell'Arte'. On the
Italian stage these Captains had often been portrayed as Spaniards, to satirical effect,
indeed to quote K. M.Lea again (op.cit., p. 52) 'so far as we know the Captain is not
always a Spaniard but a Spaniard is always a Captain'. The British Library has a German
version of Andreini of 1627, so far unnoticed by literary historians, Hauptmann Schreck
translated by 'Chim Haarlock von Vorhoff\ an unresolved pseudonym; and Johann Rist's
Capitan Spaitento oder Rodomontades Espagnolles followed in 1635, which is 'auss dem
Frantzosischen in deutsche Verss gebracht\ the source being apparently Lorenzo
Franciosini rather than Andreini. The most famous German braggart soldiers came later,
Horribilicribrifax von Donnerkeil and Daradiridatumtarides Windbrecher von TausendMord, both in Andreas Gryphius's Horrtbilicribrtfax^ begun before 1650 though not
published until 1663. Spavento's costume - plumed hat, rutf, doublet with scarf and
sword - is probably traditional, and also occurs in the crude woodcut title-page border
to the Andreini translation of 1627, which shows Schreck (Spavento) with his servant
Mausefall (Trappola). One non-traditional element is the medallion of Urban VIII, here
worn by Santa Cruz-Spavento.
The broadside thus contrives to hit a number of targets: Spain in general {the plural
61
title) as well as her particular incompetent commander, the Pope and the Catholic party,
and France (the Parisian setting). It is a pity that the verses do not match the brilliance of
the engraving.
Weller III, 6i8. Not in Muller, nor in the catalogues of Netherlands portraits of Muller
and J. F. van Somercn. (Fig. 2.)
18. Abscheulichste vnerhorte Execution, an . . . Carl Stuart . . . vorgangen . . . C.R.V.N. 1649.
An engraving of the execution of Charles I, with inset medallion portraits of Charles,
Fairfax, and Cromwell.
Drugulin records a different edition, by Merian (2284).
IQ. Die Enthauptung Jhr Konig. May. von Gross Britannien Carles Stuart. [Augsburg:] Wolfg.
Ktlian, [1649.] 4".
Engraved by Kilian. With a large oval portrait of the king headed: Sic transit gloria mundi.
Drugulin 2285.
20. Treu, Abdias. Abzeichnung der Ort dess Cometen, wie solche von dem 10/20 Decembris.
biss 16/26 dieses, Anno 1652 zu Altdorff observirt worden . . . Abzeichnung, wie . . . der
Comet taglich umb die Erde . . . herumb gelauffen. [Nuremberg}^ 1652.]
The two subjects on one engraved sheet. Natural phenomena, including comets, were
still popularly interpreted as signs of divine opinion or as portents, and there are many
broadsides devoted to them, comets being particularly subject to astrological speculation.
The comet of 1652, for instance, was held by several writers to be 'responsible' for the
Anglo-Dutch war of 1652-4 (Hess, p. 109). This sheet, however, by the Professor of
Mathematics and Physical Science at the University of Altdorf, Abdias Treu (1597i66c}) is, commendably, entirely astronomical and almost certainly not intended for
popular consumption.
21. Abbiltung des grawsamen vnd blutigem SeeTreffen zwischen der Holl- vnd Engellandischen
Repuliquen [sic], so angefangen den 28 Februari'. . . des Jahrs 1653. [1653.]
Engraved. The naval battle of Portland.
22. Der heilig Berg Sinay, sampt dessen vmbligenden Orten . . . Furtenbachische ReissBeschreibung von Venedig biss zu dem Berg Sinai. Stuttgardt: bey Matthia Kautten,
An engraving, with verses in letterpress relating David Furtenbach's journey to the Holy
. Land and his death on Mount Sinai in 1561. The account is said to be based on the/?fw^^uf/i
of Jacobus Wurmser, who was present at his death. Furtenbach's own diary of his journey
was published by A. Ulmer in Alemannia 7 (1933). First line: Man findet in SchrifFten
zu lesen.
23. Ein warbafftiges Monstrum. Augsburg: Boas Vlrich, [1655?]
A coloured woodcut with descriptive text, on the supposed discovery in Catalonia in
November 1654 of a monster with goat's legs, a human body, seven arms and seven heads.
The text ends: 'Die Bedeutung ist Gott bekandt.'
Drugulin records a different edition (2410).
62
Ho^'HMUTlOEN
^'F A N 1 I
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l) j iiTv kw. Jicin. Gol * « nK miiir ftlttlt
5c liflft ci ()rcfi iuin TUPI^ faiitt auc[) mt vitl
(JoR t>fttriier ilTcL nn&t, wctl t r t m ^tifl((ia Buf,
Itt) glewfi muii ifim uotl) foiUT. uamJ? fri^Wti) nit vvt,
Ob itli f c ^ i vonttib tim fefir iarck i"v^ wot funiieret.
fin Rett-xJi o^er J f j . mein ma.Q(n Conttnticrtt.
?rmf^ vpn Vro.tiica, romt'Atvh mir nichd (etjmco'.t
U'tit (J im BViattv mcui.Vicl tilttrtfit crwtcit
Cictang idi nter ncun j]!uikkJ* vi>p, ^uftr ?.^ei()'
Oawituf) (a(iiQ (tin. itlj Wiif)' notf aiutri; (ptij .
•Von Zu-ittl VFii Aiwbfauc^. jiettw^\.ai\ anil'i: jJutcti,,
"Die m i r i i r anOre foetj? trtrbUuie ti)un. asUcjcn.,
Fig. 2. No. 17
24- Historia. Von der Statt Rapperswil . . . wie die selbig . . . von den Ziirchern vnd Barnern,
belegert . . . worden. [1656.]
An engraving with satirical verses on the failure of the forces of Protestant Zurich and
Berne to take Catholic Rapperswil by siege.
Weller records a different edition (I, 979).
25. Abbildung der zu Londen vorgangenen Execution wieder die rebellirende Quackers, und
dess Cromwels, Jretons und Brandschauens ausgegrabene C6rper; sampt beygefugter
Relation. [1661.]
An engraving with an inset medallion portrait of Thomas Venner, and with narrative
letterpress. German understanding of English sectarianism was clearly unsure, as the first
event here described is in fact the execution, not of Quakers (well known in Germany),
but of the so-called Fifth-monarchy men, the extreme Puritan millenarians led by Venner
and others whose rather pathetic insurrection in London was put down in January 1661.
The second event is the exhumation of the corpses of Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw
which took place at the end of that month.
Drugulin 2539.
26. Relation auss Londen vom 4. Febr. 1661. Die Examination Verurtheilunge vnd Execution
der Gefangenen Quackers . . . betreffend. [1661.]
Like the preceding number, this is in fact an account of the end of the Fifth-monarchy
men, with additional material on the exhumation of the regicides' corpses. With an engraved
illustration with medallion portrait of Charles II inscribed 'Vivat Carolus II.'. The sheet's
anti-revolutionary message is rubbed in in four lines of verse ending 'Jeder der [de]r
Obrigkeit einen Druck hat angethan / Oder noch zu tbun gedenckt / spigle sich anitzt daran'.
The principal part of the text is a translation of the English tract A relation of the arraignment and trial of those who made the late rebellious insurrections in London, 1661 (Somers
Tracts, ed. Walter Scott, 2nd edn., vol.7 (London, 1812), pp. 469-72) of which no known
copy now survives: there is none in the first edition of Wing, nor, so far, in the material
being assembled for the second edition (information kindly supplied by Ms Jeri S. Smith
of Yale University Library).
Drugulin 2540.
27. Kurtzer vnd warhafftiger Bericht dess Jenigen, was auff dem sch6nen Eyland Formosa . . .
am 5.Julij 1662. furgefallen. Augspurg: in verlegung Marx Antoni Hannas. [1662?]
An engraving in seventeen compartments with descriptive letterpress. A German version
of a Dutch broadside (Mulier 2176) relating the destruction of the Dutch colony on Formosa
in 1661-2 by the Chinese under Coxinga (Cheng Ch'eng-kung).
Drugulin 2556.
28. (Honold, Jacob) Die newe Cometen seyn gwisse Propheten . . . Wolmeynend vorgestellet
von M. J. H. Ulm: bey Balthasar Kuhnen, 1664.
With an engraving of the comet of December 1664. This is an early and apparently
unrecorded observation of a comet which produced a substantial literature, most of it
devoted to astrological interpretation (see Ph. CarFs Repertorium der Cometen-Astronomie,
Munchen 1864). Honold (ti7i7), who published a number of works on astronomy, was
64
at this date teaching mathematics at the Ulm Gymnasium, and, as his title shows, he
belonged amongst the interpreters.
29. Abbildung der machtigen Seeschlacht, so sich zwischen der Englischen vnd Hollandischen
Schiff Armada, den 3.13. vnd 4.14. Junij. Anno 1665. zugetragen. [1665.]
An engraving, with inset medallion portraits of James, Duke of York (subsequently
James II of England) and of the Dutch Baron van Wassenaer. The battle of Lowestok.
Drugulin 2655.
30. Abbildung eines newen und von keinen Autore beschribnen Vogel aus Africa Akkaviak
genandt. [c. 1665?]
A handbill, illustrated with an engraving, advertising the exhibition of two West African
crowned cranes, here called Akkaviak.
The engraving appears to me remarkably accurate and must have been made from a life
drawing. The species is undoubtedly Balearica pavonina pavonina (fam. Gruidae, subfam.
Balearicinae; see L.Brasil: Grwf^-P. Wytsman: Genera avium, pt. 19 (Brussels, 1913),
p. 8 and pi. 3) which was not distinguished from the White Nile crane, Balearica ceciliae,
until 1904 (by P. Chalmers Mitchell in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,
vol. 2, pp. 200-5). Balearica pavonina is found in West Africa, from Senegal to the Shan
River.
These beautiful and gentle birds had early taken the fancy of European traders and
colonists in West Africa. Buffon tells us {Histoire naturelle des oiseaux, tom. 8 (Paris, 1783).
pp. 165-71, 'L'oiseau royaK) that the first specimens were brought to Europe by the Portuguese as early as the fifteenth century, but the earliest account I have found is given by
Ulysse Aldrovandi in his Ornithologia, vol. 3 (Bologna, 1603), pp. 361 ff., with illustrations.
He says that in 1585 ('anno Pontificatus Sixti V ) Joannes Bovius brought a pair to Italy
from Portugal and presented them to Cardinal Montalto, saying he had acquired them
'ab iis, qui in Indiam navigare soliti fuerant. Reperiuntur in regionibus prope Caput viride
vulgo dictum [i.e. Senegal]. Nunc in hortis . . . Cardinalis Sfortiae vivunt.' Aldrovandi had
not seen these birds himself, but was sent pictures of them from Rome by his nephew
Julianus Griffonius, which no doubt accounts for the inaccuracies of his illustrations. He
identifies the birds as Pliny's Grus balearica, though, as Buffon pointed out, the identification is doubtful; nevertheless, the name has stuck.
Buffon cites Willem Bosman [Nauwkeurige beschryving van de Guinese, Goud-, Tanden Slave-Kust (Utrecht, 1704), Brief 15) on the interest aroused in Europe by this bird
which he calls Kroonvogel. I quote Bosman in the English translation, second edition
(London, 1721), p. 250: These birds seem to be in great esteem in Europe, since we are
incessantly solicited by some Gentlemen to send them over; and I have been told, that they
presumed to present one of them to the King of England, who was also pleased to accept
of it.' Indeed, there was such a bird in the Royal Aviary in St. James's Park at least as early
as 1676, as is recorded by Francis Willughby in his Ornithologia (ed. John Ray, London,
1676).
The earliest dated appearance of the name Akkaviak which I have seen comes in the
most substantial and influential seventeenth-century account of Africa, Olfert Dapper's
Naukeurige beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche gewesten (Amsterdam, 1668), in the passage
devoted to the birds of Senegal. Although he does not illustrate the bird, there is no doubt
65
from his description that this is our crowned crane. Philipp von Zesen's German translation
of Dapper appeared, also in Amsterdam, in 1670, changing the orthography to Ackaviack,
and a French translation of 1686 has Accaviac. John Ogilby, whose English Africa of 1670
relies heavily on Dapper, clearly takes from that source his note on the Akkaviak, spelt so,
which he tells us he had not himself seen; while John Barbot, in A description of the coasts
of North and South-Guinea (London, 1732), which also contains material taken from
Dapper, changes the name into Alcaviak.
A recent study of Dapper's account of Senegal (G.Thilmans, Le Senegal dans Pceuvre
d'Olfried Dapper in Bulletin de rinstitut fondamental d'Afrique noire, ser.B tom.333,
no. 3, juillet 1971, pp. 508-63) has the following note, by Father H.Gravrand, on the
linguistic origin of the name Akkaviak (p. 553): 'L'akkaviak {a kavtj, pluriel: a kavtj aka)
est la denomination serer de Taigle, qui revient parfois dans les contes.' (The Serer region
of Senegal lies along the north of the River Gambia, and in the seventeenth century was
to the south-west of the kingdom of Dhiolof.) So both Dapper and our present handbill are
apparently in error in identifying Grus baleartca pavonina pavonina by the Serer word for
eagle, a fact which, taken with their identical spelling of the name, can hardly be pure
coincidence. A direct dependence of one text upon the other seems unlikely (a) because
the author of the handbill says the bird has not been described by any author, and {b) because
Dapper, who was normally very interested in ethnographical details, does not duplicate
the handbill's account of beliefs associated with the bird (its high flight suggesting communication with the gods, leading to prayers for the ending of the rains being addressed
to it). But we may surely speculate that the two documents had a common source.
The birds advertised in our handbill may well have come into Germany via a Dutch
port. There is certainly no reason to connect them with specifically German ventures in
African trading (Courland in the 1640s, or Brandenburg from the 1680s). (Fig. 3.)
31. Vorstellung derer etlich und zwanzig englischer Haupt und Kriegs Schiff, so von denen
Hollandern . . . vor Quienborg vnd Chattam seind aufF gebracht und in brandt gesteckt
worden. [1667.]
^
Engraved, with an inset portrait of the Dutch Admiral de Ruyter, commander of the
highly successful raid up the Medway of June 1667.
Drugulin 2717.
32. Abbildung dess Schiffsbruchs eines Englandischen Schiffs vor der Insul Pines . . . geschehen
imjabr A"^. 1589. Abbildung der Insul Pines, so . . . erst im Jahr A*^. 1667. durch ein Niederland. Schiff erfunden worden. [1668.]
Two engravings on one sheet.
Henry Nevile's Isle of Pines (London, 1668) for many years fooled a world eager for the
strange and marvellous. It purported to be the story of George Pine, survivor of a shipwreck of 1589 who, together with four female survivors, brought the population of the
previously uninhabited Isle of Pines (not the real one in the West Indies, but an entirely
fictitious one near Madagascar) to ten or twelve thousand before a Dutch ship came to
discover them in 1667. Versions of tbe story quickly appeared in several European languages:
the British Library has a number of these, including a German version published at
Frankfurt am Main in 1668 as a supplement to the Dtarium Europaeum.
The history and bibliography of Nevile's hoax were the subject of studies by Max
66
o
6
7:
^Sill*i|||
Fig. 4. No. 32
Hippe {Eine vor-Defoe'sche englische Robinsonade in Englische Studien, Bd. 19 (Leipzig,
1894), pp. 66-104) and Worthington Chauncy Ford (The Isle of Pines (Boston, 1920)),
but the only mention of a broadside on the subject comes in a review by Hermann Ullrich
of August Kippenberg's Robinson in Deutschland, in the Zeitschrift fur vergleichende
Litteraturgeschichte, N.F.Bd.6 (Berlin, 1893), p. 264, in which he cites but does not
describe 'an anonymous engraving' which passed through the saleroom of L. Rosenthal
in Munich.
The present broadside shows two scenes: the British Library's German edition of
Nevile's text ( = Hippe 9, Ford 15) is without the two engravings promised on the titlepage. Although the broadside scenes (the shipwreck, and the five survivors on the island)
are not noticeably faithful in their portrayal of incidents as described in the German text,
I think they are probably at least versions of the missing text engravings. (Fig. 4.)
33. Eigentliche Abbildung und aussfuhrliche Beschreibung der wunderbahren . . . See-Schlacht,
zwischen Englisch-Frantz6sischen und Hollandischen Flotten. [Nuremberg., 1673.]
An engraving by Sigmund Gabriel Hipschmann, with letterpress relating three Dutch
naval victories of mid-1673.
Drugulin 2790.
34. Abbiidung der zwo blutigen Seeschlaten [^^V] gehalten, auff den 7. vnd 14. Iuni 1673, zwischen beyden . . . Seeflotten von Franckreich vnd Englandt gegen die von den vereinigten
Niderlanden. [1673.]
Three engravings on one sheet, without letterpress. The first illustrates two of the Dutch
naval victories also described in the preceding number. The others are entitled 'Vorstellung
der neuen Munsterischen Schantz' and 'Abbild- der Belagrung der . .. Festung Mastricht\