All 20 VOC Gouvernor-Generals as described by Valentyn
A unique ensemble!
Detail
Date of first edition: 1724-1726
Date of this map: 1724-1726
Dimensions (not including margins): all +/-18 x 29 cm
Condition: mint condition. Strong copper print and clear image.
Condition rating: A+
From: Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indië, 1724-1726
This item is sold
Valentyn discussed and inserted in his work portraits of all the Dutch Governor-Generals of the VOC thus far (i.e. 1726):
The Governor-General of the VOC in Batavia was appointed by the Heeren XVII in Amsterdam, the main governing body of this company. But he was also the political leader of the Dutch East Indies!
François Valentijn (Dordrecht, April 17, 1666 – The Hague, August 6, 1727) was a pastor and historian. He lived on the isle Ambon from 1686 to 1694 and again between 1707 and 1712. He established his fame by writing “Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën”, a magnum opus consisting of five parts with 5.144 pages and 1.050 illustrations in which he details the history of the Dutch East India Company. This oeuvre describes in detail the geographical, historical, legal, political, and botanical situation of areas where the Dutch traded. He also provides an overview of the Governors-General of the VOC, thus far. For example (with pictures):
Pieter Both (1610-1614):
Already in 1599 Both led the ninth Dutch expedition to the East, in the service of the Brabant company. (The VOC was established in 1602). He was sent in 1609 to Bantam on Java as first Governor-General. In 1611 he built a home near Batavia, which the distant origin of the full transfer of the VOC to this place in 1619. He signed agreements with chief rulers of the Moluccas. Under his rule, the Dutch conquered Timor on the Portuguese and they drove the Spanish out of Tidore. Both islands played a key role in the spice trade. He built a shipyard on the tiny isle of Onrust, just outside Batavia. This island would become the main industrial hub of the Dutch in Batavia. He was forced to resign in 1614.
Hendrik Brouwer (1632-1636) (second picture):
Brouwer was first sent to London in 1632 to settle trade disputes between the VOC and the English East India Company. That same year he was appointed Governor General in Batavia. In 1642 he commanded a joint fleet of the Dutch West India Company and the Dutch East India Company to South America. The mission was to investigate whether the Dutch could establish a trading post in gold rich Chile or Peru. During this expedition he proved that Staten Island was not part of the enormous (and imaginary Terra Australis (or South Land).
Antonio van Diemen (1636-1643) (third picture):
He issued a local legal code, the “Bataviasche Statuten”. In 1642 he ordered Abel Tasman to explore Australia. He observed large parts of its coastline and “discovered” the island of Diemensland. Much later, in 1856, the British renamed this harsh penal colony to the honor its European pioneer: Tasmania. Van Diemen was/is further present in the world’s topology: Van Diemen Strait (now Osumi), south of Kyushu (Japan) and Van Diemen Gulf (still in use) in North Australia.
We offer all the VOC gouvernor-generals (as described by Valentyn) for sale as one collection:
1614-1614: Pieter Both (main product picture)
1614-1615: Gerard Reynst (fourth picture)
1616-1617: Laurens Reael (fifth picture)
1619-1623: Jan Pieterszoon Coen (sixth picture)
1623-1627: Pieter de Carpentier (we can provide pictures of all Gouvernor-Generals)
1627-1629: again Jan Pieterszoon Coen
1629-1632: Jacques Specx
1632-1636: Hendrik Brouwer (second product picture)
1636-1645: Antonio van Diemen (third product picture)
1645-1650: Cornelis der Lijn
1650-1653: Carel Reyniersz
1653-1678: Joan Maetsuycker
1678-1681: Rijcklof van Goens
1681-1684: Cornelis Speelman
1684-1691: Johannes Camphuys
1691-1704: Willem van Outhoorn
1704-1709: Joan van Hoorn
1709-1713: Abraham van Riebeeck
1713-1718: Christoffel van Swol
1718-1725: Hendrick Zwaardecroon
1725-1729: Mattheus de Haan
Plus a weapons symbol for Cornelis Speelman and a portrait of Pieter van den Broecke, first director for Suratte, Persia and Arabia
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