Novus orbis sive descriptio Indiae occidentalis - photo 1

Novus orbis sive descriptio Indiae occidentalis

Lot 80
16.10.2025 10:00UTC +01:00
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$ 13 970
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1472003
Lot 80 | Novus orbis sive descriptio Indiae occidentalis
Estimate value
$ 7 000 – 10 000
HERRERA Y TORDESILLAS, Antonio de (1559-1625). Novus orbis sive description Indiae occidentalis. Translated from Spanish into Latin by Gaspar Barlaeus. Amsterdam: Michel Colin, 1622.

The first complete account of the Le Maire-Schouten circumnavigation, the first to successfully round Cape Horn.

With the earliest printed representation of California as a large island. First Latin edition. Originally published in Spanish at Madrid in 1601 with fourteen maps, Michel Colin issued Latin, French and Dutch editions simultaneously in 1622, each of which had the same engravings, adding three not in the first. The work was reprinted at Frankfurt in 1623 by the heirs of Theodore de Bry in the twelfth part of the Great Voyages and also by his archrival Levinus Hulsius's heirs. This first Latin edition appeared contemporaneously with French and Dutch editions which had the same title-page engraving. Interestingly, in the first full map in this book, just a few pages later, California is depicted as a peninsula.

The first two parts of the book concentrate on knowledge of the New World and include very fine maps of Central and South America, with those on the Pacific coast adding a great deal of new geographical knowledge. Of primary importance, however, is the second part containing the description of the great Dutch navigator Jacob Le Maire's voyage in search of Terra Australis in 1615-17. Le Maire (1585-1616) was the son of the merchant Isaac Le Maire whose arguments with his fellow directors of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) precipitated his split from them. Seeking to break the VOC's monopoly, he formed his own commercial enterprise and conceived of this voyage, establishing his son as its commander.

Jacob Le Maire sailed aboard the Eendracht captained by Willem Cornelis Schouten. They were accompanied by Jan Cornelis Schouten (Willem's brother) who commanded the Hoorn. The passage through the Lemaire Strait and the rounding of Patagonia via Cape Horn would impact future navigation in manifold ways, but principally in dispelling the idea of an imaginary Southland. The Le Maire voyage was the last of the 17th-century expeditions to search for the unknown continent from the east, and made extensive discoveries in the Pacific. New Guinea was finally proved to be an isolated island, and not part of a great continent extending to the east. The view of the archipelago, unchanged since 1545, was thus completely altered. After nearly two years at sea, during which great gains in geographic knowledge were established, Le Maire died at Mauritius. Schouten had been sent back to Holland by the governor of the Dutch East India Company, who viewed their presence in the East Indies as infringement of their monopoly. Schouten's passage of two years and twenty-three days set a new record for a circumnavigation.

Le Maire's voyage had been inspired in part by Quiros's and would itself inspire Tasman's great expedition. The book's important series of maps were used by Tasman in his circumnavigations of the 1630s and 40s. Thirteen of the maps depict North, Central and South America while the other four are of the Pacific. The larger-scale folding map shows Le Maire's route through the ocean with details of the Pacific island groups and New Guinea. Three of the engraved views in text show Le Maire's ship the Eendracht at anchor in the Solomon and Cocos Islands. The portrait of Le Maire is not present in this copy (as often) and is not listed on the binder's index on the verso of the title-page, but which is present here. Alden & Landis 622/70; Borba de Moraes I:400; Burden 195-198, 201-206; McLoughlin, California as an Island, no. 1, Sabin 31540; Wagner Spanish Southwest 12c.

Folio (355 x 233 mm). Engraved title within woodcut border decorated with the Castilian arms, six Aztec gods and Mexican scenes, and a cartouche at bottom with map of the Americas showing California as an Island, five engravings in text in Le Maire's section, 17 double-page maps including one folding map on two joined sheets (mild toning, folding map with light offsetting, some marginal spots). Later quarter vellum over marbled boards, spine gilt, morocco lettering piece (light scuffing and soiling). Provenance: Christie's, 26 June 1991, lot 71.
Place of origin:Spain, The Netherlands
Auction house category:Printed books
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