Priscila Lena Farias / Anna Calvera Marcos da Costa ... - Blucher

Dutch maps of Pernambuco from the seventh century: the technique and the
metafunctions of the graphical language
BACIC, Lucas / Undergrad / Universidade Ferederal de Pernambuco / Brazil
BASTOS, Luiza / Undergrad / Universidade Ferederal de Pernambuco / Brazil
CAVALCANTE, Sebastião A. / Master’s student / Universidade Federal de Pernambuco / Brazil
QUEIROZ, Malthus O. / Master’s student | Universidade Federal de Pernambuco / Brazil
CAMPELLO, Silvio B. / PhD / Universidade Federal de Pernambuco / Brazil
Maps / Metal engraving / Social semiotics / History of graphic
design
Research and analysis of gravures in the book Gaspar Barlaeus
– Nederlandsch Brazilië (1647), printed with metal engraving.
We proposed as an analytical tool a form based on the theory of
Language and Social Semiotics of Halliday, focusing in the ideational
and textual metafunctions, analyzing both geographic
and decorative elements. The results led us to understand the
reason for the figurative elements and what are their historical
importance.
1. Introduction
Brazil – throughout its life as a Portuguese colony – has faced
prohibitive laws which hindered its people’s freedom. For a long
time, the existence of manufacturing was not allowed, given
submission of the colony to Portugal. This Interdiction included
any press activities, would it be newspapers, books or fliers. This
fact is responsible for the lack of printing activity in the country
region before 19 th century. This is also the reason for some printing
techniques, such as wood engraving, very common in Europe
during the previous centuries, having less impact in our Graphic
History. Nevertheless, when the flemishes came to Recife in the
17 th century, they produced a number of maps and illustrations in
such techniques. The results presented here began with a search
in collections in the city of Recife to find evidences of the printing
techniques called metal engraving.
With references found on the book Guia de fontes para a história
do Brasil Holandês: acervos de manuscritos em arquivos holan-
deses (Gallindo et all 2001), we searched the Institute Ricardo
Brennand, in Recife, PE. There we had access to the book Gaspar
Barlaeus - Nederlandsch Brazilië (1647). Printed in a typographic
press and metal engraving, part of the original edition
is displayed in the IRB along with other later editions, from the
same period.
2. Object of Study
The Gaspar Barlaeus - Nederlandsch Brazilië (fig. 1) was created
at request of the Count Johann Mauritius van Nassau-Siegen to
certify his good governance in the Brazilian northeast and to
prove the good investment to the Eastern Indian Company. The
work describes the deeds done during the eight years of stay
of Nassau and was written by humanist Gaspar Barlaeus and
published in Amsterdan in 1647. In the book O Brasil que Nassau
Conheceu (Silva 1979) it says: ‘A magnificent book, (…), one of
the biggest achievements of the Lower Countries’ graphic art’.
The book is a detailed documentation about diverse aspects of
nature, fauna and flora of Pernambuco. It also portrays historical
facts of the Portuguese and Dutch domination. Some of its prints
were after painted with watercolor, displaying extreme care in
the making of the book. Most of the prints are credited to Franz
Post, having participation of other artists.
Although we didn’t had the chance of handling the original book
as it was in exhibition at that time, we could use two publications,
quite faithful to the original, printed in an enlarged version and
with refined quality. The first book is from 1923, of which we took
most of the photos. The second one, the already cited O Brasil que
Figure 1. (1) Cover; (2) Back cover; (3) Detailed gravure from the cover of the book Gaspar Balaeus – Nerderlansch Brazilië (Institute Ricardo Brennand).
Design Frontiers: Territiories, Concepts, Technologies / Proceedings of the 8th Conference of the International Committee for
Design History & Design Studies - ICDHS 2012 / São Paulo, Brazil / © 2012 Blucher / ISBN 978-85-212-0692-7