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Description

The First Map of the First Dutch Voyage to the East Indies. Suppressed When Published. This Being Only The Third Known Copy, the Only Copy in Private Hands, and the Only Copy Outside of the Netherlands.

As noted by Schilder & van Egmond

When the first Dutch expedition to the Indies (1595–97) returned to Holland under the command of Cornelis de Houtman, efforts were made to publish the results of the voyage as soon as possible. In April 1598, Claesz published the journal of Willem Lodewijcksz., clerk on De Houtman’s voyage. In addition to this richly illustrated journal, Claesz also printed a map in two sheets, now very rare, on which the route taken by De Houtman’s expedition was drawn.

The Houtman Voyage: The First Dutch Voyage to the East Indies

The genesis of the voyage: Dutch loss of access to the spice markets in Lisbon (because of the Portuguese dynastic alliance with Spain)

Publication following the Cornelis Houtman's voyage:

Barent Langenes was also the first to publish anonymous accounts of Cornelis Houtman's maiden voyage to the East Indies, in 1597 and 1598 respectively. Claesz published Willem Lodewijcksz's account of the voyage in 1598. Although Langenes' publication of the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies preceded Lodewijcksz's, Claesz added engravings to Lodewijcksz's account in his 1598 publication. While Claesz's engravers took some ideas from the woodcuts in Langenes's publications, those woodcuts were first influenced by the engravings in Jan Huygen van Linschoten's Itinerario, published by Claesz in 1596...

Elizabeth Sutton (Eary Dutch Prints of Africa)

 

Rarity

According to Schilder & Von Egmond, only two examples of this map survive: Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum and Maritime Museum Rotterdam.

Reference
Maritime Cartography in the Low Countries during the Renaissance Günter Schilder & Marco van Egmond, History of Cartography, Volume 3: Cartography in the European Renaissance, Part 2; p. 1384-1432.