The works that shaped the European understanding of the world: travel accounts, maps, atlases, globes and instruments from the great age of exploration, together with the books of science, navigation and astronomy that made those discoveries possible.
We specialise in the voyages of discovery that laid the foundation of Dutch and Western European prosperity, from the late fifteenth century into the eighteenth. From the great Spanish, Portuguese and English expeditions, through the pivotal knowledge made available by Jan Huygen van Linschoten, the key to the East and the birth of the VOC, to the voyages of Barentsz, Van Noort and De Houtman. The travel accounts, maps, atlases, globes, letters and instruments created in their wake form the focus of our collection, together with the books of science that made those voyages possible: navigation, astronomy, cosmography, mathematics and natural history.
Sebastian Franck (with Ulrich Schmidel and Hans von Staden), 1567
Benzoni, Girolamo, 1565
DE BRY, Johann Theodor and Johann Israel, after William Baffin, 1628
A curated, working stock of books, maps and atlases, with a dedicated "hospital" preparing exceptional works for the market.
The reference library — the books about the books — underpinning rigorous, best-in-class scholarship and description.
A trusted name and a network of collectors, museums and institutions, built on knowledge, discretion and connoisseurship.
We are not a shop. We present works in person — with the history, the context and the object in hand — to collectors and institutions who share our fascination with the age of discovery. Enquiries and viewings are warmly welcomed.