“Portus Regalis” by Jacques le Moyne. Frankfurt: Theodore De Bry, c. 1591. This view depicts the French arriving at Port Royal in present-day South Carolina. (Image with text: 10 1/2 x 8 3/4")
Produced in Germany, c. 1591, by De Bry from a drawing by Jacques le Moyne de Morgues - an artist who accompanied the French Expedition to “Florida” under René de Laudonnière. Le Moyne arrived on the coast of present day South Carolina in 1564. He barely escaped Spanish massacre at Ft. Caroline in 1565. His drawings are among the earliest authentic representations of aboriginal life in North America. The Indians, plant (oak, cedar trees) and wildlife (turkeys, deer) indigenous to the area are carefully depicted.
Le Moyne’s work depicts the life of the first Huguenot Colony, on the shores of St. John’s River, and elsewhere along the coast. The images reflect life as le Moyne saw it. His task was to sketch the Indians, their customs and habits; map the seacoast and harbors, indicate the position of towns, plot the rivers and “anything else in the country worthy of observation”- lending the world an eyewitness account of the exciting and unknown NEW WORLD.
This item is presented in archival matting (20 x 16").
