Book, Gerrit De Veer's Arctic Voyages, 1606

"Vraye Description De Trois Voyages De Mer Tres Admirables, Faits En Trois Ans, A Chacun An Un, Par Les Navires D'Hollande Et Zelande Au Nord Par Derriere Norwege, Moscovie Et Tartarie, Vers Les Royaumes De China Et Catay" (Amsterdam: Cornille Nicolas, 1606), Engraved Title Vignette. Lacking full page map by Baptista van Doetchum and pages 3, 10, 13, 30, 31, 42 and 43, otherwise complete. Bound in original period vellum, with remnant portion of 16th century text on vellum used as stiffener for front and rear boards.
Gerrit De Veer (ca. 1570-1598) was one of 17 crewmen who sailed on the last two of Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz three Polar Voyages (1594, 1595, and 1596-97), and his dramatically illustrated account of these polar expeditions was first published in Dutch in Amsterdam in 1598. The publication proved to be so popular that in the same year Cornille Nicolas published Latin and French editions. This French edition by Nicolas may be the 4th, as the Third Edition was published in 1605. For a detailed discussion of this book, see the website "The Winter at Novaya Zemlya" produced by the Department of Dutch Studies, University College, London (www.ucl.uk/dutchstudies).