Nieuwe Wereldt ofte Beschrijvinghe van West-Indien, wt veelerhande Schriften ende Aenteekeningen van verscheydn Natien by een versamelt
- Gothic letter. 10 double-page engraved maps by Hessel Gerritsz. [24], 510, [16]pp. Small folio, bound in sixes
- Leyden: Isaack Elzevier, 1625
Leyden: Isaack Elzevier, 1625. First edition. Gothic letter. 10 double-page engraved maps by Hessel Gerritsz. [24], 510, [16]pp. Small folio, bound in sixes. Contemporary quarter vellum with tips and pastepaper covered boards, minor soiling and wear, front hinge starting. Some toning, foxing and staining, split at the lower fold of the first map, minor worming, two leaves of the register in the rear (2x3-4) with restoration to the lower corners affecting a few letters. Provenance: Jan van der Hasselt (signature dated 1775). First edition. Gothic letter. 10 double-page engraved maps by Hessel Gerritsz. [24], 510, [16]pp. Small folio, bound in sixes. De Laet (1581-1649) served as one of the founding directors of the Dutch West India Company, a position he held from 1620 to the end of his life. Organized in a similar fashion to the more well known Dutch East India Compay (VOC), the Dutch West India Company (WIC) received its charter from the States-General in June 1621, granting it a 24-year monopoly on trade and colonization that included the American coast between Newfoundland and the Straits of Magellan.
Among the first accomplishments by De Laet was the compilation and publication of the present work, a comprehensive description of the areas covered by their charter. Using a variety of eyewitness accounts and printed sources - including those by Antonio de Herrera, Lopez de Gomara, Giovanni Battista Ramusio, Peter Martyr, Samuel Champlain, Jan Huygen van Linschoten, John Smith, Richard Hakluyt, Samuel Purchas and others - the work was divided into fifteen chapters, each covering a different region: West Indies, Canada, Virginia (including New England, New York), Florida, Nova Hispania, Nova Galicia (including California and New Mexico), Guatemala, Terra Firma, Granada, Peru, Chile, Rio de la Plata, Brazil, Guiana, and Nova Andaluzia. The descriptions include notes on the exploration and establishment of the Europeans in America, the geography and natural history of America, and the character and manners of its native peoples." Stokes notes the importance of De Laet's account of Hudson's voyage of 1609, which was "probably based on a journal of Hudson, now lost." The work is especially valuable for the descriptions of Dutch activities in Brazil and other parts of South America.
"Considerable effort went into the text and maps of this work, which was the most accurate description of the Americas available at the time. It is arguably the finest published in the seventeenth century. The exhaustive research involved De Laet reading all of the published and manuscript material he could find. For the cartographic work he had much to call on, being a director of the recently formed Dutch West India Company in charge of all Dutch interests in the America and Africa. He therefore had access to the latest geographic knowledge" (Burden).
The first edition work is illustrated with ten maps by Hessel Gerritz (1581-1632), the cartographer of the Dutch West India Company, a disciple of Willem Blaeu:
1) De Groote ende Kleyne Eylanden van West-Indien
2) Nova Hispania, Nova Galicia, Guatimala [Burden 215]
3) Tierra Firma met Nuevo Reyno de Granada ende Popayan
4) Peru
5) Chili
6) Provincien van de Straet van Magallanes, ende vande Straet Le Maire
7) Paraguay, ó Prov. de Rio de la Plata
8) T Landt van Brasil
9) Guiana
10 Venezuela
Burden notes the importance of the map of Nova Hispania: "Although many maps had been produced of New Spain, few extended north in the area of present day Texas." The map is also notable for naming the mouth of the Mississippi river "B. del Spiritu Santo."
Subsequent enlarged editions published in Dutch (1630 and 1644), Latin (1633) and French (1640) included additional maps not included in this first edition. Among the most valuable early histories of America, the first edition is considerably more rare than the later editions and is seldom encountered. European Americana 625/125; Sabin 38554; Borba de Moraes I, p. 450; Streit II:1557; JCB (3)II:193; Bell L28; Burden 215; Stokes VI:pp. 261-262. Not in Church
Among the first accomplishments by De Laet was the compilation and publication of the present work, a comprehensive description of the areas covered by their charter. Using a variety of eyewitness accounts and printed sources - including those by Antonio de Herrera, Lopez de Gomara, Giovanni Battista Ramusio, Peter Martyr, Samuel Champlain, Jan Huygen van Linschoten, John Smith, Richard Hakluyt, Samuel Purchas and others - the work was divided into fifteen chapters, each covering a different region: West Indies, Canada, Virginia (including New England, New York), Florida, Nova Hispania, Nova Galicia (including California and New Mexico), Guatemala, Terra Firma, Granada, Peru, Chile, Rio de la Plata, Brazil, Guiana, and Nova Andaluzia. The descriptions include notes on the exploration and establishment of the Europeans in America, the geography and natural history of America, and the character and manners of its native peoples." Stokes notes the importance of De Laet's account of Hudson's voyage of 1609, which was "probably based on a journal of Hudson, now lost." The work is especially valuable for the descriptions of Dutch activities in Brazil and other parts of South America.
"Considerable effort went into the text and maps of this work, which was the most accurate description of the Americas available at the time. It is arguably the finest published in the seventeenth century. The exhaustive research involved De Laet reading all of the published and manuscript material he could find. For the cartographic work he had much to call on, being a director of the recently formed Dutch West India Company in charge of all Dutch interests in the America and Africa. He therefore had access to the latest geographic knowledge" (Burden).
The first edition work is illustrated with ten maps by Hessel Gerritz (1581-1632), the cartographer of the Dutch West India Company, a disciple of Willem Blaeu:
1) De Groote ende Kleyne Eylanden van West-Indien
2) Nova Hispania, Nova Galicia, Guatimala [Burden 215]
3) Tierra Firma met Nuevo Reyno de Granada ende Popayan
4) Peru
5) Chili
6) Provincien van de Straet van Magallanes, ende vande Straet Le Maire
7) Paraguay, ó Prov. de Rio de la Plata
8) T Landt van Brasil
9) Guiana
10 Venezuela
Burden notes the importance of the map of Nova Hispania: "Although many maps had been produced of New Spain, few extended north in the area of present day Texas." The map is also notable for naming the mouth of the Mississippi river "B. del Spiritu Santo."
Subsequent enlarged editions published in Dutch (1630 and 1644), Latin (1633) and French (1640) included additional maps not included in this first edition. Among the most valuable early histories of America, the first edition is considerably more rare than the later editions and is seldom encountered. European Americana 625/125; Sabin 38554; Borba de Moraes I, p. 450; Streit II:1557; JCB (3)II:193; Bell L28; Burden 215; Stokes VI:pp. 261-262. Not in Church
Details
Title
Nieuwe Wereldt ofte Beschrijvinghe van West-Indien, wt veelerhande Schriften ende Aenteekeningen van verscheydn Natien by een versamelt
Author
Laet, Johannes de
Binding
Gothic letter. 10 double-page engraved maps by Hessel Gerritsz. [24], 510, [16]pp. Small folio, bound in sixes
Condition
Unknown
Publisher
Isaack Elzevier: Leyden
Date
1625
Edition
First edition