Colouring: Uncoloured
Description: During the sixteenth century the Portuguese dominated the East Indian spice trade, but when Cornelis de Houtman and his brother Frederick returned to Amsterdam in January 1597 after a successful voyage to the East Indies via the Portuguese route, around the Cape of Good Hope, they proved that the Dutch might safely challenge the Portuguese monopoly and trade directly with the Spice Islands. Buoyed by this news, the backers of Houtmans expedition formed a company known as the Old Company and sent another fleet to the East Indies. nThis second expedition consisted of eight ships under the command of Jacob Cornelisz van Neck with Wijbrant van Warwijck and Jacob van Heemskerck as lieutenants. The ships set sail from Texel on 1 May 1598 bound for Bantam, the chief port of Java. Heavy storms in the Indian Ocean separated Van Neck and three of the eight ships from the rest of the party. Van Neck landed safely on the east coast of Madagascar and refreshed his supplies before carrying on to Bantam, which he reached on 25 November 1598. There he was reunited with his fellow explorers and successfully filled four of the ships with spices. He arrived home in July 1599. The remaining four ships under van Warwijck continued their eastward journey arriving at Ambon Island in March 1599, but there were not enough cloves to fill a single ship. It was decided that van Warwijck would sail north to Ternate, while van Heemskerck would head for the Banda Islands. Van Heemskerck returned to Amsterdam in May 1600 and van Warwijck in September of the same year. nThe voyage was considered a phenomenal success for the Netherlands. It was not only profitable but it established the East Indies spice trade for the Dutch, leading to the founding of the Dutch East India Company in 1602. News of the voyage found its way immediately to print. Van Necks account of his voyage to Bantam and back was published in Dutch in Amsterdam in 1600, while the return of van Heemskerck and van Warwijck from Banda and Ternate enabled the complete account of the Second Voyage to become known. This second and expanded edition was published in 1601, and was issued in several languages including French, which was republished in 1609. nThis title page is from the second French edition. It shows the Javanese king of Tuban seated on an elephant receiving the fleet commanded by van Warwijck and van Heemskerck. In the background is a walled city, named Mesquita. The inscription advises that: The King welcomes the Dutch outside his town of Tuban. In the bottom right corner the long inscription explains that the king was the most powerful of the Javanese kings.
First published: Neck, Jacob Cornelisz. van Le second livre, Iournal ou comptoir, contenant le vray discours et narration Amsterdam Cornille Nicolas
Image Size (cm): 23×33.5
Mapmaker: Neck, Jacob Cornelisz. van (1564-1638)
Primary Category: Titlepage
Rarity: R2 Very rare – one or two copies appear on the market
Sheet size (cm): 23×33.5
Technique: Copper Engraving
This state: 1609, Second
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