This title page is centered on a beautifully rendered sailing ship in an elaborate strapwork cartouche that contains four views of major cities in the Dutch trading empire: Antwerp, Amsterdam, Middelburg, and Enkhuizen. Linschoten was an important Dutch explorer. The valuable sailing instructions that he managed to acquire from the secret Portuguese archives helped launch the Dutch trading empire in the East Indies. His travel writings, the famous Itinerario, published in three parts (Description de l’Amerique, Le Grande Route de Mer, and Histoire de la Navigation), was one of the most important early accounts of India, the Far East, Portuguese Africa, and the New World. This edition was published by Cornelis Claesz. On full sheet of Dutch text (7.4 x 11.4").

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Condition: B+

A dark impression on a sheet that has been trimmed by the bookbinder at right, with loss of a thin sliver of the border. There is marginal soiling and a tiny hole in the engraved image that has been closed on verso with archival materials.