- TItle-p. sl. frayed (just touching vignette) and stained from manuscript annot. and red collector's stamp on verso, both shining through; preliminary leaves waterstained, final 3 plates waterstained in top inner margin and a few textleaves sl. waterstained; main text occas. dampstained/ (finger)soiled in margins; 4 plates w. red collector's stamp on verso (3x shining through (mostly sl.) on recto; one textp. w. closed tear (just touching text).
= Verhoeven/ Verkruijsse 1648-01; Buisman 210; Rouffaer/ Muller p.52; Landwehr, VOC, note (re-edition of the ed. 1746); Tiele, Mémoire 171; Tiele Bibliografie 159; cf. Cat. NHSM I, p.173; Howgego I, B131. Rare complete copy of the first revised edition, with new plates by S. Saverij. Very popular itinerary, often reprinted up to the nineteenth century. The voyage of Bontekoe became a byword for a voyage full of adversities. The ship caught fire after passing Madagascar and exploded when the flames reached the powder-room. The survivors continued their voyage in a shallop and after much suffering and many adventures they were rescued in Straits Sunda by a Dutch fleet under F. Houtman. The rest of the journal narrates Bontekoe's further experiences in Indonesia and China until his safe arrival in his hometown Hoorn. "Bontekoe's Journal (...) became one of the most popular books of its genre. Written in a simple, earthy language, it ran to thirty editions in the following fifty years and was translated into nearly every European language. At one time it was reckoned to be out-selling the New Testament." (Howgego B131). SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE CXXVI.