First edition of rare and important work on regulations for maritime trade and the navy. The first part of the work deals with the hierarchy in the Board of Admiralty, naval and mercantile ships, personnel functions, and equipment of ships with arms, food, and personnel. The second part deals with the individual chartered companies, the VOC, WIC, and the whaling companies. It contains information on the East Indies, Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, New York, and the whaling areas in Northern Europe. The contents of the chapters is outlined on a twenty-two page long table at the beginning of the work. Following Tjassens' these two parts, there are about 42 publications issued over the years by the Dutch government concerning these topics. "The chapters XIV-XXX of this valuable book contain the history of the West-India-Company, with reprints of the original documents (Octroyen, pp. 222-258). This first edition is scarce" (Muller).
Paste-downs never pasted down; occasional minor waterstains in lower outer corner, otherwise in very good condition. Alden & Landis 652/198; Kress 861; Muller, America 1518; Rodrigues, Historiografia e Bibliografia do Dominio Holandes no Brasil, p. 8 and no. 111; Sabin 95872.