Beschreibung:

Diarum nauticum seu vera descriptio Trium Navigationum admirandarum ... ad Septemtrionem, supra Norvagiam, Moscoviam & Tartariam, versus Catthay & Sinarum regna.... Amsterdam: Cornelius Claesz, 1598. Folio (318 x 229 mm). Large engraved title-vignette, 31 engraved illustrations in the text, including 5 maps of the Arctic region, 1 full page. Early 19-century calf with the arms of Stuart of Rothesay in gilt on the cover, cloth folding case. A few leaves with minor staining, mostly in the margins, minor creasing). Provenance: Sir Charles Stuart Baron Stuart de Rothesay (1779-1845; G.C.B. and privy councilor, supra libros); Sir Thomas Phillips (shelfmark, and "MHC" inscribed in pencil on front free endpaper); Philip Robinson (his sale, part I, Sotheby's London, 23 June 1988, lot 284); Frank S. Streeter (1918-2006, his sale, Christie's 17 April 2007, lot 513). FIRST EDITION IN LATIN, first published in the same year in Dutch. Towards the end of the 16th-century the competition to find a new trading route via a northern passage that would connect the Pacific and Atlantic oceans intensified. The English, Dutch, Danes and Norwegians all tried and failed. However the most notable of these in terms of discovering new coasts and islands was led by the Dutch navigator Willem Barentz (c.1550-1597). In three major voyages, described by de Veer (the ship's carpenter) in the form of an illustrated diary, Barentz discovered Spitzbergen and Bear Island, and rounded the northernmost cape of Novaya Zemla, where his ship became trapped and was ultimately crushed by ice. The crew survived, but many, including Barentsz, died. The illustrations depict the crew's hardships, the construction of the camp on the ice out of driftwood, encounters with polar bears, and many other scenes. In the spring of 1597 the survivors reached the Kola Peninsula and were rescued by Dutch ships. Adams V-316; Alden & Landis 598/113; JCB (3) I:369.