Aldus Vertoond de kust van Nova Guinea Cabo Santo…..

Rare c.18th Dutch engraving from Francois Valentyn (1656-1727) account of the VOC, depicting a sequence of panoramic coastal profiles observed from the sea during Abel Janszoon Tasman’s 1643 voyage through the South Pacific. The plate is composed of several numbered horizon views, each showing mountainous coastlines, offshore islands, and Dutch East India Company vessels sailing parallel to the coast. The accompanying Dutch captions identify prominent landmarks including Anthony Caen’s Island, Gerrit de Nijs Island (Lihir), and the Visscher Islands, now part of the Tabar Group of Papua New Guinea.

The original drawings were made by Isaac Gilsemens, the expedition’s artist, and formed part of Tasman’s journal recording the coastline encountered north of New Ireland. These profile views were of considerable navigational importance, enabling mariners to recognise landfalls and coastal features from offshore. They also represent some of the earliest European visual records of this region of Melanesia.

Valentyn studied theology and travelled twice to the East Indies in the employ of the VOC, firstly as a Calvinist minister on the spice island of Amboina (1686-1694) and then to Java (1706) and again Amboina (1707-1713). In the preparation of his historical account of the VOC in the East, Valentyn was given privileged access to the secret archives of the company, enabling him to provide detailed information on previous Dutch voyages to the Indies, including those of Abel Tasman.

From: Francois Valentyn, Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien.