Interpretative Ingredients: Formulating Art and Natural History in Early Modern Brazil

In this article I look at two early modern texts that pertain to the natural history of Brazil and its usage for medicinal purposes. These texts present an informative contrast in terms of information density and organization, raising important methodological considerations about the ways that inventories and catalogues become sources for colonial scholarship in general and art history in particular

The New World’s fauna and the rise of rational nutrition in Europe

As preocupações médicas com o equilíbrio alimentar remontam à Antiguidade, mas apenas a partir do século XVII o assunto começou a ser questionado de modo mais científico e preciso. Dois médicos holandeses de renome, Luís Nunes (1553-1645) e Willem Piso (1611-1678), estudaram esta questão e legaram-nos tratados de inquestionável relevância historiográfica. Destacamos, em particular, Ichtyophagia sive de piscium esu commentarius (“Ictiofagia ou comentário sobre uma alimentação piscívora”, Antuérpia, 1616) e De Indiae utriusque re naturali et medica. Libri quatuordecim (“Sobre a Índia e sua história natural e médica”, Amesterdão, 1658). A defesa de uma dieta que inclua o consumo de peixe é transversal aos dois textos, pois ambos fundam um discurso inaugural em defesa de hábitos alimentares equilibrados numa época de profundas mudanças históricas e culturais impostas pelo contacto com as realidades do exótico Novo Mundo. Esta influência é sobretudo evidente na obra de Piso, especialmente nas suas descrições de espécies de peixes endémicas do Brasil.Medical concerns with feeding balance goes back to Antiquity, however only from the 17th Century onwards this matter began to be questioned in a more scientific and precise way. Two renowned Netherlands’s doctors took up this issue, Luís Nunes (1553-1645) and Willem Piso (1611-1678). They left us treaties with unquestionable historiographical relevance. We are especially concerned with Ichtyophagia sive de piscium esu commentarius (“Ichthyophagy or comment on a piscivorous food”, Antwerp, 1616) and De Indiae utriusque re naturali et medica. Libri quatuordecim (“About India and its natural and medical history”, Amsterdam, 1658). The promotion of a diet that includes the consumption of fish is therefore an issue transversal to both texts because both of them substantiate an inaugural discourse in defence of balanced eating habits in an era of profound historical and cultural change imposed by contact with the realities of the exotic New World. This influence is particularly evident in the work of Piso, especially in his descriptions of fish species native to Brazil

Cover to Cover:A Book Historical Approach to the Historia Naturalis Brasiliae

Supplementing the existing botanical, zoological, and anthropological perspectives, Alsemgeest and Bos add a book historical dimension to Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (HNB) research. Using a combination of tools from analytical bibliography and cultural history, conclusions can be made about the materiality and trajectory of individual copies of the HNB. Initially, a copy census was carefully set up and carried out, involving the cooperation of hundreds of institutional libraries worldwide. By sending out a questionnaire, the aim was to locate as many copies as possible, getting them confirmed either through autopsy or with the help of local experts, and to gather material evidence concerning the coloring, binding, and provenance. The result (this volume's Appendix) lists more than 300 surviving individual copies of the HNB, of which 14 copies are fully colored. Subsequently, the census functions as the base on which stories about the life cycle of selected copies are told. These stories are exemplary for how and why a copy was originally acquired or donated, used, collected, discarded, and institutionalized over time, and how it found different meaning in new constellations. The census provides insight into the HNB as an object of knowledge, prestige, heritage, or patrimonization. Finally, the authors are hopeful that the census will be used by scholars to question the HNB from completely new and fresh perspectives

Searching for Copaiba: tracing the quest for a wound-healing oil by early explorers in Brazil

Horizon 2020(H2020)ERC Agreement No. 715423Heritage of Indigenous People

A Simple Method to Check the Reliability of Annual Sunspot Number in the Historical Period 1610-1847

A simple method to detect inconsistencies in low annual sunspot numbers based on the relationship between these values and the annual number of active days is described. The analysis allowed for the detection of problems in the annual sunspot number series clustered in a few specific periods and unambiguous, namely: i) before Maunder minimum, ii) the year 1652 during the Maunder minimum, iii) the year 1741 in Solar Cycle -1, and iv) the so-called "lost" solar cycle in 1790s and subsequent onset of the Dalton Minimum.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Solar Physic

The earliest iconographic record of Gobioides broussonnetii La Cepède, 1800 (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae): the species identity of the “Caramuru” paintings of Dutch Brazil (1624-1654)

During the Mauritian period of Dutch Brazil (1637‑1644), a great deal of information about the biota of northeastern Brazil was obtained, consisting of both written records and paintings. Among them is an eel-like fish, depicted in two paintings labeled “Caramurû” and “Caramuru”, whose taxonomic identity is controversial. One of them, attributed to Albert Eckhout, is part of the Theatrum Rerum Naturalium Brasiliae collection, stored at the Jagiellonian University Library, in Poland. This painting was possibly a model for the second “Caramuru”, of unknown authorship, which is deposited at the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. These paintings are doubtfully identified as the snake eel Echiophis intertinctus (Ophichthidae, Anguilliformes), a proposal likely induced by the vulgar name “caramuru”, which is applied to muraenids and ophichthids in Brazil. After careful examination of these two paintings regarding the anatomical details depicted, we concluded that the fish corresponds, with great certainty, to Gobioides broussonnetii (Gobiidae, Gobiiformes), popularly known as “aimoré” and “tajasica”. Furthermore, we suggest the possibility that the written counterpart of these paintings is the description associated with the woodcut of the fish labeled as “Tajasica” in the Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (Marggraf in de Laet, 1648). The confusion probably stems from mismatches between Georg Marggraf’s descriptions and the images of organisms produced at the time, perhaps before the return of Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen’s entourage to Europe. In an attempt to support our conclusions about the identity of that fish, as well as for historical purposes, we also discuss the vernacular names applied to G. broussonnetii and the authorship of the notes made on those paintings

Caminhos das águas, caminhos de terra: trilhando o território alagoano através dos mapas nos primeiros séculos coloniais

During the colonial period, the lands called Alagoas initially belonged to the Captaincy of Pernambuco. However, traces of its geographical origins can be found in the first maps of Brazil. By examining the Portuguese cartography of the Albernaz family, and later, the dense Dutch material, we can see how the region has been mapped out. Firstly, geographical features, particularly rivers, were marked out; and later the villages, roads, and sugar-mills were identified in these maps. Prominent among the maps analyzed here is the Brasiliae Geographia et Hidrographica Tabula Nova..., which was ably produced by George Marcgraf, and is the most important 17th century cartographic document in the so-called Dutch Brazil period. In addition, there are landscapes by Frans Post which allow us to examine the first three villages founded in the region. Among the points that can be observed are the routes, which were initially watercourses and later became tracks across the lands. When we compare this old cartographic material with today’s maps we perceive that some of these roads – currently highways – follow almost exactly the same routes from nearly 400 years ago. The analysis of Alagoas State, which is characterized by its lagoon features, is completed with the analyses of its three initial villages, followed by the study of the capital, Maceió, based on the city’s oldest map that was produced in the 18th century in which the waterways and roads are also conspicuous.No período colonial, as terras denominadas Alagoas inicialmente pertenciam à capitania de Pernambuco. Contudo, sinais da sua geografia já são encontrados nos primeiros mapas que representam o Brasil. Através da cartografia portuguesa da família Albernaz e, depois, da extensa produção holandesa, pode-se acompanhar como a região vai sendo desenhada – a princípio pela marcação dos acidentes geográficos, em especial os rios, mas depois pela identificação de vilas, caminhos e engenhos. Na série aqui analisada destaca-se a carta Brasiliae Geographica et Hidrographica Tabula Nova..., habilmente produzida por George Marcgraf, o mais importante documento cartográfico seiscentista, realizado no período do denominado Brasil holandês. Somam-se a ele as vistas de Frans Post, que permitem tratar das três primeiras vilas fundadas na região. Entre os pontos que se observam estão os caminhos. Inicialmente hidrográficos, depois passam a ser recortados terras adentro. Comparando-se esse antigo material cartográfico com o atual, pode-se comprovar que algumas dessas trilhas, hoje assumindo a proporção de rodovias, chegam até os dias de hoje. Território identificado pelas marcas lagunares, a análise sobre Alagoas finaliza-se com o estudo das suas três vilas iniciais seguido de apontamentos sobre a capital, Maceió, conduzidos a partir do mapa mais antigo da cidade até agora encontrado, produzido no século XVIII, no qual novamente salientam-se as águas e os caminho

Léry et les poissons.: Une lecture rapprochée des stratégies descriptives

Medieval and Early Modern Studie

Indigènes, Africains et Afrodescendants dans l'oeuvre de Frans Post

Cet article est consacré à la représentation des Indigènes, des Africains et des Afrodescendants dans l' uvre de Frans Post, un peintre hollandais du XVIIe siècle qui séjourna à Recife. Les tableaux, les dessins et les gravures que nous avons retenus pour cette étude se réfèrent à différentes périodes de l' uvre de Post. Il y met en scène les activités des hommes et femmes libres, des esclaves ou des affranchis insérés dans le monde colonial luso-hollandais au Brésil. Il s'agit de personnages recréés dans des paysages qui évoquent la nature du littoral du Nord-Est avec la présence de constructions comme des fortifications, des moulins à sucre, des bourgs et des chemins. L'article dialogue avec l'histoire des interactions culturelles, l'histoire des arts plastiques et de l'imaginaire dans les représentations graphiques. Il se réfère en même temps à la construction du patrimoine historique qui nous a été légué par le processus de colonisation avec ses inévitables croisements d'influences

Over vissen en mensen: antropomorfisme en zoömorfisme in Jean de Léry’s Histoire d’un voyage faict en la terre du Bresil (1578)

Medieval and Early Modern Studie