HISTOIRE DE LA NAVIGATION DE IEAN HUGUES DE LINSCHOT HOLLANDOIS: AUX INDES ORIENTALES CONTENANT DIVERSES DESCRIPTIONS DES LIEUX JUSQUES À PRESENT DESCOUVERTS PAR LES PORTUGAIS: OBSERVATIONS DES COUSTUMES & SINGULARITEZ DE DELÀ, & AUT

by Linschoten, Jan Huygen van:

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Amsterdam: Evert Cloppenburgh, 1638.. Three parts bound in one volume. Three letterpress titles (two within elaborate engraved surrounds, the third with engraved vignette), engraved portrait of Linschoten on verso of index leaf, six folding engraved maps, thirty-six engraved plates and views by Johann and Baptiste ven Doetecom after Linschoten (five folding, thirty-one double- page). Folio, 12 3/8 x 7 7/8 inches. Early 18th- century calf, expertly rebacked to style with the spine in seven compartments with raised bands, red morocco lettering piece in the second, the others with repeat decoration in gilt made up from various small tools; modern dark blue morocco backed cloth, "spine" lettered in gilt. Minor worming in lower inner corner, just affecting the image area of one map. Provenance: La Trémoille, prince de Talmont (1652- 1733, arms stamped on fly leaf); armorial stamp of Serrant (on fly leaf and first two title margins). In a half morocco clamshell case, spine gilt. Third edition in French of this famous work, with commentaries by B. Paludanus, reprinted from the edition of 1619. The second and third parts are titled: LE GRAND ROUTIER DE MER...CONTINANT UNE INSTRUCTION DES ROUTES & COURS QU'IL CONVIENT TENIR EN LA NAVIGATION DES INDES ORIENTALES, & AU VOYAGE DE LA COSTE DU BRESIL, DES ANTILLES, & DU CAP DE LOPO GONSALVES and DESCRIPTION DE L'AMERIQUE & DES PARTIES D'ICELLE, COMME DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE, FLORIDE, DES ANTILLES, IUCAYA, CUBA, JAMAICA, &c. The maps include van Langren's maps of the East Indies and South America (including the Caribbean and Florida), and the double-hemispherical world map of Plancius dated 1594 (Shirley 187). Linschoten, a Dutchman born in Delft in 1590, was in Goa between 1583 and 1589, and with Willem Barents on his second voyage to the Kara Sea in 1594-95. He had an "avaricious thirst for knowledge which enabled him to get detailed information of land and sea as far afield as the Spice Islands and China" (Penrose). This practical experience all lent authenticity to the present work, first published in Dutch (Amsterdam, 1595-96), and it remains one of the most important of all travel books. It was the most comprehensive account of the East and West Indies available at the beginning of the 17th century. As well as including important travel accounts taken from contemporary Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish sources, it is the first work to include precise sailing instructions for the Indies, and, according to Church (and other authorities), "it was given to each ship sailing from Holland to India." The third part gives an excellent account of America. An important work that served not only as a valuable record, but also as a catalyst for change in the balance of power amongst European trading nations in the east: "the navigator's vade mecum for the Eastern seas" (Penrose). When Linschoten returned from Goa to his home in the Netherlands, he did so at a time when the people of northern Europe and particularly his countrymen were especially interested in what he had to report concerning the trading activities of the Portuguese in the East. His most important and far- reaching observations concerned the gradual decline of Portuguese power in the East and her ability to protect her trade routes and monopolies. This, together with the trading possibilities he detailed, encouraged a series of Dutch, French, and English fleets to set sail for the Spice Islands, and beyond to China and Japan. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 638/67. JCB (3)II:271. PALAU 138584. SABIN 41373. TIELE 686-88.

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