Over the past half millennium, from circa 1450 until the last third or so of the twentieth century, much of the worldâs history has been influenced in great part by one general dynamic and complex historical process known as European expansion. Defined as the opening up, unfolding, or increasing the extent, number, volume, or scope of the space, size, or participants belonging to a certain people or group, location, or geographical region, Europeâs expansion initially emerged and emanated physically, intellectually, and politically from southern Europeâspecifically from the Iberian peninsulaâduring the fifteenth century, expanding rapidly from that locus to include, first, all of Europeâs maritime and, later, most of its continental states and peoples. Most commonly associated with events described as the discovery of America and of a passage to the East Indies (Asia) by rounding the Cape of Good Hope (Africa) during the early modern and modern periods, European expansion and encounters with the rest of the world multiplied and morphed into several ancillary historical processes, including colonization, imperialism, capitalism, and globalization, encompassing themes, among others, relating to contacts and, to quote the EURO seriesâ original mission statement, âconnections and exchanges; peoples, ideas and products, especially through the medium of trading companies; the exchange of religions and traditions; the transfer of technologies; and the development of new forms of political, social and economic policy, as well as identity formation.â Because of its intrinsic importance, extensive research has been performed and much has been written about the entire period of European expansion.
With the first volume published in 2009, Brill launched the European Expansion and Indigenous Response book series at the initiative of well-known scholar and respected historian, Glenn J. Ames, who, prior to his untimely passing, was the founding editor and guided the first seven volumes of the series to publication. Being one of the early members of the seriesâ editorial board, I was then appointed as Series Editor. The seriesâ founding objectives are to focus on publications âthat understand and deal with the process of European expansion, interchange and connectivity in a global context in the early modern and modern periodâ and to âprovide a forum for a variety of types of scholarly work with a wider disciplinary approach that moves beyond the traditional isolated and nation bound historiographical emphases of this field, encouraging whenever possible non-European perspectives ⦠that seek to understand this indigenous transformative process and period in autonomous as well as inter-related cultural, economic, social, and ideological terms.â
Despite, or perhaps because of, these new directions and stimulating sources of existing and emerging lines of dispute regarding the history of European expansion, I and the editorial board of the series will continue with the original objectives and mission statement of the series and vigorously â⦠seek out studies that employ diverse forms of analysis from all scholarly disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, history (including the history of science), linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, and religious studies.â In addition, we shall seek to stimulate, locate, incorporate, and publish the most important and exciting scholarship in the field.
Towards that purpose, I am pleased to introduce volume 50 of Brillâs EURO series entitled: Dutch Brazil in the Early Modern Imaginary: From Description to Classification of Lands and Peoples, 1624â1654. Authored by Britt Dams, it is an original and an innovative study of a well-known topic, the establishment of the Dutch West-India Company in parts of Portuguese Brazil in the early seventeenth century and the production, description, and dissemination of knowledge about the New World, primarily, to Dutch and northern European and non-Iberian audiences. Dams examines systematically four seminal works produced contemporaneously to the WICâs presence and its activities in Brazil:
Johannes de Laetâs Nieuwe Wereldt ofte beschrijvinghe van West-Indien (Leiden 1625)
Johannes de Laetâs Historie ofte iaerlijck verhael van de verrichtinghen der geoctroyeerde West-Indische Compagnie, zedert haer begin, tot het eynde van
ât jaer sesthien-hondert ses-en-dertich; begrepen in derthien boecken, ende met verscheyden koperen platen verciert (Leiden 1644) Caspar Barlaeusâ Rerum per Octennium in Brasilia et alibi nuper gestarum sub praefectura comitis I. Mauritii historia (Amsterdam 1647)
and
Georg Marckgrave and Willem Piso theirâs Historia naturalis Brasiliae: auspicio et beneficio illustriss. I. Mauriti Com. Nassau illius provinciae et maris summi praefecti adornata: in qua non tantum plantae et animalia sed et indigenarum morbi ingenia et mores describuntur et iconibus supra quingentas illustrantur (Amsterdam 1648).
Providing an integrated analysis of these four seminal works, Dams examines these authors and their motivations and produces a compelling argument concerning their production, which was articulated to the fundamental importance of hybridity in their being written.
In Dutch Brazil in the Early Modern Imaginary, Dams establishes and interweaves a dialogue between classic works that are normally read separately and collectively links them to the objectives of the West India Company and its desire not only to describe this New World but to appropriate it and stimulate support for this project. The authorâs narrative builds a bridge among the four texts analyzed and other earlier or contemporary works, while highlighting the importance of the knowledge and intelligence of indigenous peoples in the creation of the studied works. Hopefully the EURO series readership will enjoy this incursion into the Dutch West Indiaâs activities in Brazil, as described by the author and the analysis advanced in this volume.