This is the first French edition of a work describing the voyages and discoveries of Joris van Spilbergen and Jacob Le Maire. In 1614 Spilbergen set sail for the Moluccas via the Straits of Magellan in the first attempted circumnavigation of the globe that was carried out with the official support of the Dutch government. Spilbergen made important contributions to the exploration of the Philippines and the Ladrone Islands, which he reached in 1616. He is also credited with looting many Spanish ships and cities, making his voyage quite lucrative. Jacob Le Maire began his circumnavigation of the globe in 1615 with two ships outfitted by his father, Isaac Le Maire, in the hopes of undermining the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Isaac Le Maire had been one of the founders of the VOC, and after being forced to leave the company, he became determined to find a new route to the Pacific to end the VOC's monopoly on the region. Jacob Le Maire, accompanied by Captain Willem Schouten, became the first to discover the strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados, named Le Maire Strait in his honor. They also named Cape Horn and discovered a number of islands in the Pacific, including Taumoto Archipelago, the Tonga group, the Solomon Islands, and several islands along the northern coast of New Guinea. The account of Spilbergen and Le Maire's voyages was first published in 1619 in Dutch and Latin, with a French edition following in 1621, which included a more complete text of Le Maire's journal than the earlier editions. The French edition was published by Jan Jansson in Amsterdam and included 25 maps and engravings. This example includes 17 (of 25) full maps and engravings as well as 168 pages (of 172 pages) of the original text. Below is the full list of engravings, with details on the condition of each and missing items identified.

1. Nova totius Orbis Terrarum Descriptio. Missing
2. S. Vincent. Condition: Moderate soiling with old manuscript notations. Several worm tracks in left blank margin. (B)
3. Tijpus Freti Magellanici; quod Georgius Spilbergius cum Clase Lustravit. Condition: This folding map became separated into two pieces, with about a 1" strip missing in between the right and left halves, and the left half was glued onto the preceding page. (D)
4. La Mocha. Condition: Minor soiling, missing about 1/4"-1/2" strip of image at left. (C+)
5. Santo Maria. Condition: Minor soiling and trimmed to neatline at right with minute loss of neatline. There is a chip in left blank margin that just crosses neatline with a tiny adjacent tear in image. (B)
6. Conception. Condition: Light soiling, trimmed to neatline at right and left, and pasted at left onto verso of Val Parysa map. (B+)
7. Val Parysa. Condition: Minor soiling. (B+)
8. Quintero. Condition: Light soiling and nearly separated from binding at left, with a few small chips and tiny tears into image at left. (B)
9. Nocturnum Praelium. Battaly by Nacht. Condition: Light soiling with a tear that extends through bottom right corner that has been repaired on verso with old paper. (B)
10. Praelium Diurnum. Battaly by Daegh. Missing left half of image.
11. Caljou de Lima. Condition: Light soiling and bound with no margin at right, with a few small worm tracks and tears along neatline at right. (B)
12. Guarme. Condition: Light soiling with narrow right margin, as issued. (B+)
13. La Prinse de Payta. Missing
14. Aquapolque. Condition: Separated from binding at left with a small chip at top left and a couple of tiny tears entering image. Light soiling. (B)
15. S. Iago, Selagues & Natividaet. Condition: Light soiling, missing about 1/8" of image at right. (B)
16. Les Isles Ladrones. Condition: Light soiling, missing 1/4"-1/2" of image at left. (C)
17. Typus Freti Manilensis. Disbound, missing right half of image.
18. Manila. Condition: Light soiling. (B+)
19. La Carte des Molucques. Missing
20. Les Isles Macjan & Bacjan. Condition: Moderate soiling, trimmed at right with small loss of image. (B)
21. Solor [on sheet with] Amboyna [and] I. Nera. Condition: Light soiling with a printer's crease at left, several misfolds at right, and tiny chips and tears along neatline at bottom right. (B)
22. Porto Desire. Condition: Moderate soiling. (B)
23. Mar del Zur [on sheet with] Nova Guinea. Missing right half of image.
24. Cocos Insula. Condition: Light soiling with a damp stain at bottom right and a tiny tear at top left. Disbound and pasted in along neatline at left with small loss of image. (C+)
25. Horn Ins. Missing

This example was rebound at a later date in quarter leather with tips over marbled paper covered boards.

References:

Condition:

The maps are described above with condition codes for each. The text is mostly very good, with small worm tracks along the gutter and occasional corner chips, short tears, and soiling. Page 150 has heavy soiling. The last 5 pages of text are missing, and page 116 has been replaced with the original text in manuscript. A few engravings and text pages are disbound, and the text block is loose. The covers are in poor condition and the spine has perished.