The Small Voyages, Parts I-XI, in Latin.

Frankfurt & Oppenheim: Erasmus Kempffer [and many others],, 1601-33. A monument of early travel literature in a contemporary vellum binding First or second Latin editions; an unusually substantial set of the Small Voyages, one of the most magnificent voyage anthologies published in the Age of Discovery. The greatest single collection of early voyages to the East Indies, it also holds a wealth of cartographical and visual material on Africa, India, America, South Asia, and the Middle East, including the first Latin translation of Gasparo Balbi's travelogue, Viaggio dell' Indie Orientali. Within the genre of cosmographic literature, the beautiful engravings are the most distinctive feature of the Small Voyages. In contrast to Ramusio's Navigationi et Viaggi, Hakluyt's Principall Navigations, and Thevet's Cosmographie Universelle, "the size, number, and quality of the engravings in the De Bry volumes were unprecedented … Almost overnight the collection became indispensable for Europeans who wanted to have a state-of-the-art iconography of the overseas world" (Groesen, p. 46). Its cartographic accuracy remained unsurpassed for almost a century. Part VII includes the Middle East travelogue of Gasparo Balbi (1550-1623), Venetian state jeweller and merchant, "the first writer to record the place names between al-Qatif and Oman that are still in use today" (King, p. 74). This constitutes the earliest printed source for the place names along the coast of the UAE, Qatar, and Oman. It was first published in 1590 as Viaggio dell' Indie Orientali, making this the second time it appeared in print and the first Latin translation. Balbi's account contains much information for merchants, including rates of exchange duties, travel routes, distances, and pearling grounds. The first Dutch trading expedition to the East Indies from 1595 to 1597, led by Cornelius de Houtman, comprises part III. In the last quarter of the 16th century, the Portuguese Crown faced a growing range of problems in its trade. This gave the Dutch a strong incentive to challenge the Portuguese monopoly of the Cape route and to participate directly, Houtman's being the earliest attempt. The comprehensive map, Descriptio Hydrographica accommodata ad Battavorum navigatione in Javam insulam Indiae orien (first published in 1599), shows Houtman's route and includes the Arabian Peninsula in its entirety with numerous places identified along the coast. Part X contains Henry Hudson's voyage in search of the north-west Passage, with an adapted version of the first map depicting Hudson Bay. His crew set sail in 1610 in Discovery, and after reaching Greenland, they worked their way into a spacious sea - Hudson Bay. Heading south along the eastern shore, they wintered at the southernmost point at James Bay, noted on the lower left of the map. The ship was abandoned and only eight men made it back to England alive. Hudson Bay is dubbed "Mare Magnum" on the map, as Hudson believed he had reached the Pacific Ocean. The map first appeared in Hessel Gerritsz's account Beschryvinghe van der Samoyeden landt in Tatarien (1612). At this time an awareness of the wider world began to sift through to more educated circles. "Efforts to systematically compile all available knowledge in various fields dominated scholarly activities during the 'Age of Curiosity'. Sandwiched between the eras when first theology and later science dictated the intellectual agenda, early modern curiosity was characterised by a period of discovery and wonder followed by an erudite pleasure in classification and order" (Groesen, p. 29). The encyclopaedic tradition becomes evident in De Bry's assembly of travel accounts. De Bry's two major collections are can be divided into the Great Voyages, looking west and focusing on America and so called because of their larger folio size, and the Small Voyages looking east, focussing on the East Indies. They appeared first under the editorship of Theodor de Bry. After his death in 1598 it was taken over by his sons Johann Israel and Johann Theodor. This set is a mix of first and second Latin editions. Many of the maps and plates are highly prized individually, which has contributed to copies being disassembled, and consequently copies are often found lacking maps or plates. The bibliographical understanding of this work is still unfolding, thus discrepancies within references are often found. The second and third editions have "endless variations of texts and illustrations. It formed a bibliographical puzzle of the utmost complexity" (Rylands, p. 189). In this set, the maps of Africa are lacking from part I, the plan of Goa from part II, the plan of St. Helena in part III, plate IV in part IV, and plate III in part IX. The set also lacks part XII and the appendix to part I, both difficult to obtain. THE PARTS Part I. Vera Descriptio Regni Africani, quod tam ab Incolis quam Lusitanis Congus appellatur, 1624. Second edition. 14 engraved plates. Here without the 2 folding engraved maps of Africa (which Crawford counts as one) and the map of the Congo. The first part contains the visit of Odoardo Lopez, a Portuguese, to the Congo in 1578. "It was written by Filippo Pigafetta, from the dictation of Lopez, and was published at Rome in 1591... The Latin translation, here used, is the work of Cassidore de Reyna" (Church 206), which is one of the most important early descriptions of central Africa. Part II. II Pars Indiae Orientalis, 1628. Second edition. Engraved plate of coins (bound in part III), 2 maps - Nova Tabula Insularum Iavae and Insulae et arcis Mocambique (bound in part III and IX), 37 in-text illustrations, and an engraved portrait in the text. In the first edition, the 37 illustrations were published as plates. This part contains the voyages of Jan Huygen van Linschoten to the East Indies from 1583 to 1592. The account was first published in the Netherlands in 1596 and translated into German and Latin by the De Bry workshop. Part III. Tertia Pars Indiae Orientalis, 1629. Second edition. 58 engraved plates and 4 engraved maps. The large folding plan of Agra, often missing, is present here; the map "Delinatio carte trium" called for by Church but not by Crawford is absent. Present here is the right-hand sheet, showing the western part of Africa, Europe, and the Atlantic as far as the eastern coast of South America, was never present in the entirety in this copy. Part III contains Linschoten's voyages and Cornelis de Houtman's pioneering voyage to the East Indies from 1595 to 1597, which was instrumental in opening the spice trade to the Dutch. It also includes Gerrit de Veer's voyage in search of a north-east passage from 1594 to 1596. The plates show scenes in the East, as well as Veer's experiences in Spitzbergen when his crew was attacked by polar bears. Part IV. Pars Quarta Indiae Orientalis, 1601. Sole edition. 20 engraved plates. Included here are parts of Linschoten's voyages and Houtman's voyages concluded, with a description of animals and fruits in the East Indies. It also contains a brief account of a voyage to the East Indies by Jacob Cornelisz Neck and Wybrandt van Warwijck in 1598-9. Part V. Quinta Pars Indiae Orientalis, 1601. Sole edition, second issue. 20 engraved plates. In includes the voyage made by eight Dutch ships under the command of Neck and van Warwijck to the East Indies in 1598 to 1600 is relayed. Part VI. Indiae Orientalis Pars VI, 1604. Sole edition, first issue. 26 engraved plates. This is Pieter de Maree's description of Guinea in 1600-1, together with early voyages to the Guinean coast by the Portuguese, Dutch, and French. The entire section relates to the coasts of Africa and the growing European trading presence there. Part VII. Indiae Orientalis Pars Septima; Navigationes duas, 1606. Sole edition, first issue. 22 engraved plates. Gasparo Balbi's voyage to Pegu via Syria in 1579-88 is included, with valuable early descriptions of the Arabian Peninsula; Joris von Spilbergen's account of a voyage to Ceylon from 1601 to 1604 makes up the first half. Part VIII. Indiae Orientalis Pars Octava, 1607. Sole edition, first issue. 18 engraved plates. A collection of five Dutch voyages to the East Indies (1600-6), including trips to China, the East Indies, and the Moluccas, now Indonesia. Part IX. Indiae Orientalis Pars Nona, 1612; Supplementum, 1633; Colloquia, 1613. First edition, second issue. 16 engraved plates, engraved world map on the supplementary title. Here lacking plate III and bound without the maps Insula St. Helena and Mozambique not called for by Church, but by Crawford. This part describes the voyage of Admiral Pieter Willemsz Verhoff to the Moluccas to seize them from the Portuguese, written by Johann Vercken, one of the officers on the expedition. "The Supplementum contains a description of the country seen by Vercken during his stay in the East, particularly of the Celebes, Java, Sumatra, Mauritius, and Madagascar" (Church 220). Part X. Indiae Orientalis Pars X, 1633. Second edition. 3 engraved plates and 3 engraved maps (bound in part XI). The first section gives an account of the discovery of Hudson Bay, while the second describes two voyages to the North by Linschoten. The third section relates to De Quiros and his supposed discovery of a new continent, "Terra Australis Incognita", while parts four and five are "extracts relative to the Samoiedes, and other peoples of the North" (Church 222). Part XI. Indiae Orientalis Pars Undecima, 1619. Sole edition. 10 engraved plates (plate 7 in the rare state with a woman carried into the fire). Here, the narratives of Vespucci's third and fourth voyages to America in 1501 and 1503 are recounted, followed by a description of Robert Coverte's journeys in Persia and Mongolia, and then an account of Spitzbergen and the northern whale fisheries, with the journal of Willem Barentsz and Jan Corneliszoon Rijp in 1596. 11 parts in Two volumes, small folio (299 x 195 mm). Contemporary vellum, spines with raised bands and ink lettering on first, second, third, and last compartments, two-line blind tooled border on sides enclosing large arabesque blind stamps, edges gilt and neatly gauffered. With 217 engraved maps and plates, many folding or double-page, 37 illustrations in the text in part II, numerous engraved illustrations and vignettes throughout (see note). Part XI without final blank. Vellum with old brown stains, early judicious repairs to extremities, ties missing, front joint of vol. I with superficial split at foot, inner hinges professionally repaired, some gatherings lightly toned, occasional marginal staining, folding maps tightly bound, Nova Tabula cut to neatline and repaired at fold at foot (also with light creasing) A Cidade soiled at top edge, plate 32 in part III shaved at sides, 9 in part V with small area of loss, 26 in part VI shaved at right side, title page of part IX slightly shaved at head. An exceptional set scarcely seen in a contemporary binding. Burden 162; Church 206, 207, 210, 211, 212, 213, 216, 218, 220, 220 & 223; Crawford, pp. 150-83. Ibrahim Al-Abed, Paula Vine, & Peter Hellyer, eds, United Arab Emirates Yearbook, 2005; Michiel van Groesen, The Representations of the Overseas World in the De Bry Collection of Voyages (1590-1634), 2008; Geoffrey R. King, "The Coming of Islam and the Islamic Period in the UAE", United Arab Emirates, A New Perspective, 2001.