Havre Dubus a la Baie Triton. (Nouvelle …

Superb lithograph of  the Dutch Fort Du Bus,  New Guinea, from Dumont D’Urville voyage in the ships, Astrolabe and Zelle.

Dutch New Guinea in the early 19th century was administered from the Moluccas. Although the coast had been mapped in 1825 by Lieutenant Commander D.H. Kolff, there had been no serious effort to establish a permanent presence in Dutch New Guinea. After the British showed interest in the area, and were threatening to settle it the Governor of the Moluccas, Pieter Merkus, urged the Dutch government to establish posts along the coast. On April 21, 1828 a small expedition led by Lieutenant Jan Jacob Steenboom, with two ships, the corvette Triton and the schooner Iris, left Ambon to search for a suitable location for a settlement. Prospective sites on Dourga Strait and the Oetanata River proved impractical due to swampy land and reefs. In early July Lt. Steenboom finally located a suitable site at the head of a small enclosed bay (promptly named Triton Bay), just east of the modern coastal town of Kaimana.

The maps and views were published in the official accounts of the voyage and are among the finest ever produced of Antarctica and intended to reflect France’s rightful place on the international stage.

 Embossed blind stamp “Gide Editeur Paris” denoting that is from the original edition of “Voyage au Pole Sud”.