La Baye la baye (Gulf of Albay]

Description

copper engraving. All original plates of van Noort’s Journal (and thus also the Commelin second state) are engraved with French captions, regardless of the language edition of the book. EXTREMELY RARE – almost impossible to find. The book is rarely offered for sale, but if available, carries a tag of ca. US$ 50,000. Map/view first published by Cornelis Claesz in Amsterdam in 1602, to accompany Olivier van Noort’s “Beschryvinghe vande voyagie om den geheelen werelt cloot”. Engraved by one of the foremost engravers of the day, Benjamin Wright, here the imprints are in their second state, with plate numbers in the lower corners. from “Begin Ende Voortgangh van de …'[V.O.C.]”, [Beginning and Progress of the Dutch East India Company…] Chapter: Schipvaerd Olivier van Noort… 1598-1601, p. 32 / 33. Extensively illustrated collection of journals by 21 navigators to the East and West Indies.; pl. 15.
THE EARLIEST WESTERN INDIVIDUAL DEPICTION OF ALBAY GULF. Coming from the Mariana Islands, on the 14th of October, Van Noort’s two remaining ships arrive in Albay Gulf/Bay, off today’s Legazpi City. North is at the top of this bird’s eye view, Mayon Volcano in the upper left. To avoid trouble with the suspicious Spanish, Van Noort hoists a Spanish flag, dresses up a sailor as a friar, and pretends to be a French ship sailing for the King of Spain. The print shows the flagship Mauritius and the Eendracht at anchor in the bay on October 16th 1600, two days after their arrival. A spanish sloop is on its port side. The Spanish commander is seen on deck, kissing the hand of the sailor who has been dressed up as a friar. C Spiritus Santus is in the lower left. Straet van Manille (Manila Strait) (today’s San Bernadino Strait) is to the northwest of it. [Suárez on the reduced copy of this print by Theodor de Bry].