The extraordinarily rare first edition of Francisco Pelsaerts gripping journal, chronicling the infamous 1629 wreck of the Dutch East India Company ship Batavia off the coast of Western Australia, and the horrific mutiny that followed - one of the most dramatic and enduring tales in early Australian history. The first edition has only appeared at auction three times since 1900 - in 1903, 2005, and 2017.
The Dutch East India Company's (VOC) ship Batavia, carrying over 300 passengers and crew, struck Houtmans Abrolhos reefs on the West Australian coast in June 1629. Pelsaert managed to land most of the survivors on nearby islands before undertaking a daring voyage in a small boat to seek rescue in Batavia (present day Jakarta). In doing so, he charted a significant stretch of the Western Australian coastline after first heading for the Australian mainland, at a time when the very existence of a mainland was uncertain.
Upon returning with the rescue ship Sardam, Pelsaert discovered a brutal mutiny had occurred. Under the leadership of Jeronimus Cornelisz, a former apothecary, the mutineers had massacred many survivors, raped the women and taken them into concubinage, and planned to seize the rescue vessel. Pelsaert swiftly acted, capturing, trying, and executing the leaders of the bloody mutiny - marking one of the first instances of European justice administered on Australian soil.
Published in Amsterdam in 1647 by Jan Jansz, this first edition includes vivid woodcut illustrations - among the earliest printed depictions of Australia - showing graphic scenes of the mutiny and executions. Notably, it also contains the first published European description of a kangaroo. Unlike later editions, this original issue features the illustrations in full size on separate folding plates.
All early editions of Pelsaerts journal are rare; this first edition is of exceptional rarity and historical significance.
With the large ex libris book plate of Rodney Davidson mounted on the front pastedown. The title page supplied from another copy and is very slightly dust soiled and browned. Overall in very good condition. Australian Book Auctions, The Davidson Collection, 15; Landwehr VOC 406; Robert 700; Tiele, Land en Volkenkunde, 850; Tiele, Mémoire bibliographique sur les Journaux des Navigateurs Néerlandais, pp. 262-264; STCN 850280303 (6 copies); USTC 1030729 (7 copies); WorldCat 1089690169, 503667396, 939655496, 257598983, 62680271 (19 copies).