The Dutch East and West India Companies from Gert Jan Bestebreurtje
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Item 844 is a much later work than most in this catalogue. Published in 1937, it is Pre-revolutionary Dutch houses and families in Northern New Jersey and Southern New York, by Rosalie Fellows Bailey. It describes early settlers and their homes around New Amsterdam, the place some people now call New York. It includes an introduction by a very famous Dutch descendant, Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. President at the time of publication. It was published by the Holland Society, and perhaps this time the Devil was involved, for it was printed in a limited edition of 666 copies. €885 (US $1,180).
What is Souvenir History of Pella, Iowa, doing in this catalogue? The explanation for the inclusion of a history of a central Iowa town of 10,000 is that it was founded by Dutch immigrants in 1847. Today, it still has many signs of Dutch culture, from its windmills to a tulip festival. However, its most famous natives were not Dutch immigrants - Wyatt Earp and his brothers. This history was published in 1922, three years before the founding of the company that is today Pella Windows. Item 746. €135 (US $180).
Item 520 recalls a most unhappy incident in British-Dutch relations. It is Amboyna: a tragedy. As it is acted at the Theatre-Royal, by John Dryden, and published in 1673. Amboyna, or Ambon Island in current Indonesia, was a site of rivalry between the British and Dutch. The Dutch controlled the island, but the British had certain trading rights. In 1623, the Dutch heard rumors that British settlers, along with Japanese mercenaries working for the Dutch East India Company, were about to overrun them. The Dutch preempted the supposed threat by taking the British and Japanese and torturing them until they confessed. Once they confessed, they were beheaded. The incident became a long-running sore for the British, and one of the causes of open warfare between the two nations three decades later. Reparations for families of the British victims were compelled from the Dutch by the Treaty of Westminster in 1654. As this book attests, even two decades after this the British still had not forgotten. €885 (US $1,180.)
Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books can be reached online at www.gertjanbestebreurtje.com or by phone at +31-(0)347-322548.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
