Beschreibung:

SPILBERGEN, Joris van (1568-1620). Oost ende West-Indische Spieghel... door de Strate van Magellanes... De andere ghedaen by Iacob Le Maire [i.e. Australische Navigatien] . Amsterdam: Jan Janssz, 1621. Oblong 8° (241 x 177mm). Two engraved folding maps, these a World map and a South-East Asia map, 23 engraved plates, 5 of these double-page. (Occasional soiling, light browning, a few marginal tears, two of these, at H4 and N1, crossing text.) 17-century vellum (soiled). Provenance : German inscription c.1710. RARE CIRCUMNAVIGATION, AND 'AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT BOOK FOR THE HISTORY OF DUTCH NAVIGATION' (BORBA DE MORAES). 'One of the most successful Dutch voyages' (Hill). Joris van Spilbergen sailed in command of six vessels from Texel in 1614 charged with reasserting Dutch claims to the Eastern access to the Pacific. After surviving several mutinies Spilbergen sailed through the Straits of Magellan, and up the coast of Peru, disrupting Spanish shipping throughout the area. He discovered land along the coast of what is now California (Borba de Moraes), and on his Pacific crossing discovered several small island groups. 'With the conquest of the Molucca islands, a main object of the voyage, Spilbergen had succeeded in establishing the power and reputation of the Dutch East India Company throughout the South Pacific' (Hill). In Java he took on board Le Maire and Schouten's crew, whose vessels had been confiscated. Spilbergen's account is published with that of Le Maire, who found a new passage between the South Atlantic and the Pacific. First published in 1619, 'all editions in oblong format are rare and much sought after' (Borba de Moraes). Borba de Moraes pp 826-8; Hill 1619; Palau 321550; Sabin 89446.