Views of Kozhikode and Kannur, Kerala with Hormuz, Iran and Elmina, Ghana

The earliest printed views of Calicut (Khozikode) and Cannanore (Kannur) on the Malabar Coast, from Braun & Hogenberg’s celebrated town book.

The present sheet of views includes two of the most popular early printed European impressions of Indian cities, printed as part of Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg’s celebrated series of urban views, published as Civitates Orbis Terrarum (1572-1618). During the 16th Century, Europeans were dazzled by the immense wealth that flowed from the subcontinent and captivated by the accounts of travellers who described India’s exotic wonders.

The present views of Calicut (Kozhikode) and Cannanore (Kannur) are imbued with considerable importance as the authoritative contemporary views of these important trade centres, being predicated, in good part, on actual observation. They are likely based on drawings that were part of a collection that Frans Hogenberg is thought to have acquired from a Portuguese mariner in Antwerp around 1570.