1596 Linschoten View of Ascension Island: a firsthand glimpse

Earliest View of a strategic waypoint on maritime routes to the Far East.

This is Jan van Linschoten's 1596 view of Ascension Island - considered the earliest printed depiction of Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. This view derives from Linschoten's firsthand observation: his narrative of his return to Europe from India describes the approach to the island, sailing northwest from the Cape of Good Hope, the abundance of the island's fish (including flying fish smacking into the ships), and the fleet's continued journey to Cape Verde and the Canaries.

A Closer Look

The image is an artful assemblage of coastal profiles, dramatically presented from three perspectives, aided by the placement of two striking compass roses. The image teems with waterfowl and flying fish, as a flotilla of ships passes the island on its way north. There are three views presented. The topmost is the coastal view seen from ships sailing towards the northwest, that is to say, the southeastern coast. The flotilla is pictured as if sailing to the north of the island. The second shows the island as seen from the northeast (the perspective aided by the inclusion of a compass rose). The third shows the western coastline of the island, again, with the aid of a compass rose. A strapwork cartouche to the left gives the title of the engraving in Latin and in Dutch; a similar cartouche at the lower right frames a Latin verse, attributed to Dutch poet Petrus Hoogerbeets (1542 - 1599), describing the island:

I have no fertile land nor water to drink
Yet my shores are rich in fish and birds
Crimson-hued, I rise amid the waves
Where the torrid southern zone sees the pole.

In the upper right, a far more ornate cartouche dedicates the view to the Dutch physician, traveler and collector Berent ten Broecke (Bernaldo Paludano; 1550 - 1633). Ten Broecke was a friend of Linschoten and a contributor to the Itinerario; and a good thing too, since he was well informed on the topics of the Americas and West Africa, about which Linschoten had little knowledge.

Why Ascension Island?

While the island is tiny, barren, and impossibly remote, it had been identified in 1501 by a Portuguese armada en route to India as a strategically important stopping point. The island offered little beyond the opportunity to collect fish and birds. (At some point, the Portuguese had introduced goats to the island in order to provide for posterity, but Linschoten did not mention these: perhaps they did not survive nearly a century of starving mariners.

Unparalleled Access

Linschoten, between 1583 and 1589, secretary to the Archbishop of Goa, was in a unique position to collect information pertinent to the Portuguese empire. Upon his return to the Netherlands, he promptly published. His Itinerario, a description of the lands of the East, and the different peoples his employers encountered, their costumes, religions, and customs, represented the bulk of his work. However, his copying of Portuguese sea charts, sailing instructions, and guides from port to port represented a thunderbolt for the Dutch, who would swiftly take advantage of the new information to seize control of the lucrative spice trade. His own journey home further enhanced his work with firsthand views and descriptions of the voyage to India from Europe, and back again. Linschoten's book is scarcely rivaled in its historical impact: without Itinerario, the Dutch would have been far less able to break the Portuguese monopoly on the East Indian trade, and the Dutch Golden Age may not have occurred.

Publication History and Census

This plate was engraved by the Doeticum brothers for inclusion in Linschoten's 1596 Itinerario, and it was retained in later editions of that work. No changes in state have been recorded. We see five examples of the separate engraving listed in OCLC, with the full work somewhat better represented in institutional collections.

Cartographers

Jan Huyghen van Linschoten (1563 - February 8, 1611) was a Dutch merchant, cartographer, and historian active in the late 16th century. He was born in Haarlem, the son of a public notary but moved to Enkhuizen shortly thereafter. In 1576, at 14, Linschouten relocated to Spain, to apprentice as a merchant under this older brother, Willem van Linschouten, then active in Seville. He remained until 1580, when he took work in Lisbon, Portugal, under another merchant. He was in this position only briefly before Willem introduced him to the Archbishop of Portuguese Goa, Dominican Vicente da Fonseca, to whom he was appointed secretary. Accompanying Vicente da Fonseca, Linschoten arrived in Goa in September of 1583. He remained under Vicente da Fonseca for the next four years, often traveling with the Archbishop to far of locations such as China and Japan. During that time, he became fascinated with Asian cultures and their interaction with Europeans. With access at the highest level, he copied numerous maps and other documents, as well as records on sea routes to and from Goa, and trade agreements. When Vicente da Fonseca died in 1587, Jan Huyghen boarded a ship back to Holland, but was waylaid en route by a pirate attack and shipwreck in the Azores, where he remained until 1592. Back in Holland, Jan Huyghen joined the 1594 expedition of Willem Barentsz to the Kara Sea, north of Russia, in search of the fabled Northeast Passage to Asia. The Barentsz expedition was a failure, but Jan Huyghen survived and back in Holland with the support of Cornelius Claesz, he published an account the voyage. He also published a journal of his travels in Asia, in the process revealing a wealth of Portuguese trade secrets which ultimately influenced Dutch and English attempts to take over the East Asia trade. Among these he revealed was the ‘key’ to unlocking the Portuguese grip on passage through the Malacca Strait. He suggested traders approach the East Indies through the Sunda Strait, thereby circumventing Portuguese patrols in Malacca. This passage eventually became the main VOC thoroughfare into Southeast Asia and led to the Dutch colonization of the East Indies. In 1595 he married Reynu Meynertsdr Seymens, also of Enkhuizen. He remained with his family in Linschoten died in Enkhuizen, where he had worked as town treasurer until his death in 1611.   Further Details...

Hendrick Florent van Langren (1574 - 1648) was a member of the van Langren dynasty of Dutch engravers, map publishers, and globe makers. Initially settled in Antwerp, the family moved to Amsterdam and would be instrumental in the early map trade. Hendrick and the elder Langren, Jacob, engraved many of the maps of Jan van Linschoten's Itinerario, thus creating the images attending one of the most influential travel works published.   Further Details...

Johannes van Doetecum I (1528/32 - 1605, also spelled Duetecom, Duetecum, van Doetechum) was the patriarch of a Durch family of etchers and engravers, originally from Deventer. With his brother Lucas (died c. 1589), Johannes moved to Antwerp where they would work for a variety of publishers, inclufing Hieronymus Cock and Gerard de Jode. Their oeuvre included etched landscapes and ornamental work, but they are perhaps best known for the maps they produced not only for De Jode but also for Lucas Waghenaer, Petrus Plancius, and Linschoten.   Further Details...

Source

Linschoten, Jan Huygen van, Itinerario, voyage ofte schipvaert, (Amsterdam: Claesz) 1596.    

Condition

Very good. Left margin extended, border trimmed. Marginal mends, reinforced centerfold.