OF

BOOKS, MAPS, PLATES

ON

America,

AND OF A REMARKABLE COLLECTION OF

Early Voyages,

OFFERED FOR SALE BY

FREDERIK MULLER, at Amsterdam,

LITERARY AGENT OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AT WASHINGTON.

INCLUDING A LARGE NUMBER OF BOOKS IN ALL LANGUAGES

with Bibliographical and Historical Notes

AND PRESENTING AN ESSAY TOWARDS A

Dutch-American Bibliography.

PREFACE.

The contents, arrangement and description of my literary collection on America, is so different from other Catalogues on the same subject, that a few words of information and explanation may be required.

-

I. First as to the contents. · Every collection, and necessarily its catalogue, represents more or less the literature of the country where it is formed, consequently Dutch books occupy a large, perhaps too prominent a part in my Catalogue. In order to make of this disparity an advantage, and to give this Catalogue a more literary character than that of a mere register of books, not accidentally thrown on my hands, but earnestly collected -I made an essay in the following pages towards a complete

Dutch-American Bibliography

interspersed with the various other books on America especially on New-Netherland, New-Sweden and Brazil in my possession. I hope not to have fallen too short of my intention, although the word complete, in Bibliography especially, may appear rather audacious, and though I feel convinced, that even a supplement which is to be expected in a few months, will not fill all the gaps. In this Catalogue all the 350 books and pamphlets which I possessed in 1854 and which furnished the materials for Mr. Asher's able Bibliography on New-Netherland and Brazil, are mentioned, with the exception only of some very few insignificant reprints and quite uninteresting tracts. The Dutch books, included in the collection I sold in 1858 to Mr. Brockhaus, and which are mentioned in the admirable Catalogue of my late, much lamented young friend Trömel (see N°. 111), are likewise inserted here; also those of my 3d American collection sold in 1866 to Mr. H. Stevens, and finally those books I have found since. My list may not be complete, still I am confident of giving many more of Dutch titles in this volume than were as yet known, and some very conspicuous ones, now explored for the first time. To show this may be cited that unique piece of the Dutch translation of

Amer. Vespucius' 3d letter, printed at Antwerp about 1508 (see N°. 24), the large collection of pamphlets bearing on the relations of Holland, and more particularly of Amsterdam, with the United States in 1778 to 1781 (N°. 1637 to 1726), and several others. Though by far the largest number of all these Dutch publications is in my possession, the absence of some, which may come within my reach during the arrangement and printing of this volume or shortly afterwards, as was actually the case with the very rare book of Morton (N°. 1039) and others could not deter me from my bibliographical plan, and to mention these likewise, yet without noting a price.

The second part of this Catalogue will contain a supplement and an alphabetical index, in which the Dutch books will be marked by an in order to be immediately distinguished. For this Supplement I request every one, finding omissions in my Bibliography to communicate them to me so as to arrive at a complete nomenclature; (*) while I trust to find in the republic of letters once more that sympathy, with which a most distinguished American bibliophile favoured me by his valuable contributions to a former bibliographical work.

II. To gratify collectors I have added to this Catalogue the enumeration of my valuable collection of Dutch voyages and of the larger works on voyages, compiled by GRYNAEUS, DE BRY, CORN. CLAESZ, HARTGERS, VAN DER AA, and others; also some on old geography and navigation, books the affinity of which with America will not be denied. Many bear directly on America; and the stores of Grynaeus, de Bry, etc. are indispensable to American collectors for the letters of Columbus, Vespucius, Petrus Martyr and similar pieces which they contain. In order to show more plainly the literary and bibliographical interest of these volumes, I have added notes even on Grynaeus, de Bry and other well known collections; notes, affording as I trust some new matter, as derived from close investigation of these books. The annotations to the exclusively Dutch voyages are taken chiefly from the excellent Mémoire bibliographique sur les anciens voyages Néerlandais, by Mr. Tiele, published by me, the materials for which afforded the very extensive collection I formed during 17 years

(*) I beg to observe that I have omitted intentionally:

1°) The recent books on the Dutch colonial possessions in America, as Surinam, Curaçao, St. Martin, etc., as these are most on colonial policy, and have scarcely any interest at all for the truly American collector. Besides they are fully described in the Catalogue of the Surinam Library (of the Government) published in 1862 in a 2a edition at the Hague.

2°) The large number of pamphlets for emigrants. Of these I have only given a sample in No. 370 to 377; and No. 374 presents even 25 pieces in one No. 3°) The great number of sensational novels of these times for young and old, where the name America or the Indians is only used to create sensation, as for example those published by Eisendrath, Kunst, a. o. in Amsterdam; also the translations of Aimard's novels.