Johann Theodor de Bry


Johann Theodor de Bry was an engraver and publisher.

Biography

De Bry was born in Strasbourg, the elder son and pupil of Dirk de Bry. He greatly assisted his father in works such as, the Florilegium novum, which was published at Frankfort in 1612, and, with the assistance of his brother Johannes Israel, he completed the two volumes of Boissard's 'Romanae urbis Topographia et Antiquitates,' which were left unfinished at his father's death. He also published 'Emblemata secularia,' 1596, and added considerably to the collection of Portraits of Illustrious Persons, begun by his father. His pupil was Frederik van Hulsen. He died at Frankfort in 1623. His prints are signed with the initials J. T. B. or a monogram.
He also made the following prints:
After his father's death in 1598, Johann Theodore took over the family's printing house. Sometimes before 1613, he moved the enterprise from Frankfurt to Oppenheim, where the firm published important works by the English Paracelcist physician Robert Fludd, and the Bohemian Michael Maier who had served as physician to Emperor Rudolph II. Many of the works printed by De Bry also featured engravings by his son-in-law Matthäus Merian, for example A Hundred Ethico-Political Emblems by Julius Gulielmus Zincgreff which is dedicated to and celebrates the Elector Palatine Frederick V. Historian Frances Yates suggests the De Bry publishing house had close ties to the Elector's court at Heidelberg given that it printed works by supporters of Frederick and the short-lived attempt to have him installed as King of Bohemia. She also points out the important role it played in publishing works in defense of the Fraternity of Rosicrucians. After the capture of Oppenheim in 1620, De Bry moved the printing house back to Frankfurt.