Linschoten, Jan Huygen van.

Sabin 41356 - Church 252 - Borba de Moraes I, 416ff. - Shirley 182 (vignette by Hondius) - Cat. Nederl. Scheepvaart Mus. I, 170 - BM STC, Dutch Books p. 118 - Walravens 10 - Parts, Mémoire bibliographique 83-91 - not in Adams. - First edition. - Lacking the large world map, the view of Goa (after p. 42) and the first map of St. Helena (after p. 140) - The existing maps are copies after early manuscript maps by Bartolomeus Lasso (1590). They show South America with the Antilles; the West Coast of Africa; the East Coast of Africa with Madagascar; the northern Indian Ocean with Arabia and India; as well as China and Indonesia. The plates with maps and views of St. Helena and Agra, also traditional dress and costumes, depictions of natives, ships, plants and animals. The title vignettes for Itinerario and Reys-gheschrift with (repeated) decorative ship depictions, with views of Antwerp, Amsterdam, Middelburg and Enkhuisen in the corners. The title of the Beschryvinghe with the Hondius world map in 2 hemispheres. - In 1581 Linschoten (1563-1611) went to India for six years, where he worked as secretary to the archbishop of Goa, Vicente Fonseca. This prominent position gave him access to the nautical charts of the Portuguese, who had kept them well guarded for over a century, and he secretly made copies of them. On the return trip to Lisbon, Linschoten reached the Portuguese naval base on the island of St. Helena in May 1589 and spent two more years in the Azores.