Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

van West-Indien (New World, or a Description of the West Indies), published in 1625. 70 This
book—the only other text De Laet published in Dutch—was not a piece of original scholarship,
but rather a learned synthesis of geographical, ethnographic, and historical information that De
Laet appropriated from leading English and Continental navigators, travelers, and historians. 71
As De Laet made clear in a “Note to the Reader,” he intended the book to serve as a guide to the
New World for the directors and servants of the WIC, which had been established four years
earlier. As references to the book in accounts and correspondence by Dutch navigators and
company servants attest, the book was used in precisely this way. 72
By the time De Laet began preparing a new edition, which was published in 1630, the
company's expansion was well under way: following failed attempts in Brazil and Guinea in
1625, Piet Heyn captured a Spanish silver fleet off the coast of Matanzas in 1628 and Hendrick
Loncq succeeded in capturing Recife and Olinda in 1630. Images of Heyn and Loncq graced the
70 De Laet, Iaerlyck Verhael van de Verrichtingen der Geoctroyeerde West-Indische Compagnie, vol. 1, 2. “De
Beschrijvinge van America ofte Nieuwe Wereldt, die ick voor eenige Jaren in druck hadde uytgegeven, scheen mede
desen tweede arbeydt, als een noodigh gevolgh te vereysschen (mijne Vrienden oordelen ‘t selve) door dien dat uyt
de menighfuldighe Reysen, de onderscheydelijcke ondeckingen van vele gewesten, ende 't gene soo te water als te
lande by des Compagnies Vlooten ende Legers is verricht, een groot licht konde geschept werden ende meerder
kennisse van die nieuwe ondeckte landen verkregen; ‘t sal ook in 't vervolgh blijcken.”
71 De Laet, Nieuwe Wereldt: Ofte Beschrijvinghe van West-Indien. A manuscript in the New York Public Library in
which De Laet can be seen extracting from these sources indicates that he began collecting historical and
geographical material for this book at least as early as 1620.
72 Govert Loockermans, who traded on the Hudson and Delaware Rivers in 1648-49, wrote in a letter that he had
been guided by de Laet’s Nieuwe Wereldt. See Jacobs, “Johannes de Laet en de Nieuwe Wereld.” A second example
can be found in the WIC archives. In March of 1640, the Zeeland chamber received a lengthy report from Gideon
Morris, a Zeelander of Scottish descent, along with a letter from his brother, William. The report contained a
detailed description of Maranão. The report detailed the weakness of Portuguese positions in the area and advocated
an alliance with politically disaffected local Indians. To this report Gideon’s brother added a brief letter suggesting
Maranão might provide access, by way of the Amazon, to the famous silver mines at Potosi. To buttress his case,
William offered a number of block quotations from the 1630 edition of De Laet’s Nieuwe Wereldt, which he
presented “towards the service of your excellencies, in order to better understand the wealth of Potosi and the
possible manner of its capture, by means of an extract out the striking description of that place by the gentlemen
Johan de Laet (who is well enough known by your excellencies).” As it turned out, De Laet was wrong that the
Amazon might provide access to Potosi, and in any case the company chose to invest instead in attacks overland and
via Chile. When Maurits organized a successful mission to seize Maranão in November 1641 Gideon Morris was
selected to serve as commander of the neighboring captaincy of Céara. NA 1.01.01.05, inv.nr. 43, Morris to the
Kamer Zeeland, March 3, 1640. “[…] die ick ten dienst van ewe edele […] loflijcke […] van het rijkdom van Potosi
te verhalen by wege van extract uyte trefelicke beschrivinge van Brazil van d’heer Johan de Laet (die is by eue edele
genoeg bekende).”
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