Author: Matthäus Merian I (1593-1650)
Title: [Antique etching, ets] M. Merian, Luanda, Africa, published before 1650.
Description: Titled above: Eroberung der Statt Loando de Sanct Paolo in Angola in Affrica. Gelegen., this print represents the famous slave-port of Luanda published by Merian; the city was formerly known as Sao Paulo da Assuncao de Loanda, the largest city in Angola and a famous port in the West coast of Africa. Luanda was founded in 1576 by Portuguese Paulo Dias de Novais and remained under Portuguese ruling until the Dutch overtaking from 1640 to 1648. The city is still an important port, and one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, as a port in a country now producing oil. Between the sixteenth- and the eighteenth centuries, however, the port was the center for the slave trade to Brazil. The plate is included in the 1649 edition of Gottfried, Archontologia. Etching on laid paper with margins; plate mark:  218 x 324 mm, total: 258 x 366 mm; some foxing, smudges, light rust stains, traces of folding in the middle and some creases on the bottom margin; nicely contrasted impression.

Keywords: Africa|America|Economic History|History|Migration|Slavery and Colonialism|Trade|travel