Page 260 - Nicolaes Witsen & Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age

Appendix
The allegorical engraving on the fronti spiece (fig. 1.1) points to the encyclo- pedic structure of the book: n aval architecture is symbolized by the wom an in the center, flanked by the gods of war and trade, Mars and Mercury, symbolizing naval warfare and merchant shipping. In the background we can see a number of men carrying ship models from all parts of the world and from various historical periods. The engraving is an early work from a very prolific engraver, Romeyn de Hooghe (1657–1709). The other engravings in the book were produced in large part by Witsen himself; as a young man he had learned to draw and knew how to produce acceptable engravings and etchings.18
Publishing Aeloude en Hedendaegsche Scheeps-bouw en Bestier was a costly business. Witsen managed to interest two publishers in his book, the Appelaer brothers and Casparus Commelin, who produced it as a joint publication after applying in July 1671 for the pub lishing rights. This protected them ag ainst pi- rated copies for a period of fifteen years, or until 1686.19 Although both publish- ers had their own pres ses, they chose to le ave the act ual printing to someone else. The book was produced on the presses of Christoffel Conradus, one of the most important printers in Amsterdam at the time. Witsen would have received quite a number of copies for himself to give away to friends and other interested parties. Authors were r arely paid for their efforts in those day s, but a m an like Witsen would c ertainly have deemed it below hi s station in soc iety to rec eive payment for such an activity.20 The book’s size, many illustrations, and luxuri- ous quality suggest a high pric e. We have a few indic ations of its cost. In 16 71 it came on the market for twelve guilders, and in 168 3 it was sold at auction for nearly seventeen guilders. In contemporary accounts there are complaints about the difficulty of finding a copy, and in 1698 the French minister of the navy asked his ambassador in the Hague to buy one, which he managed only by paying the hefty sum of forty-three guilders.21 An ordinary shipwright earned around twenty- five guilders per month, a c aptain on an Ea st Indiaman sixty to eighty guilders, and a mate thirty to fifty guilders.22 Very few sailors and shipwrights would be inclined to spend suc h an amount of money on the book, but it was not meant for them. Witsen had attempted to lay down his findings in an encyclopedic and scholarly manner, mainly for the use of other scholars and authors.
We have no figures for the print run, but even without contemporary reports we have other evidence pointing to a reasonably large number. The initial rights expired in 1686, but in December 1685 Casparus Commelin obtained a renewal for another fifteen years. The Appelaer brothers were not mentioned this time. In 1675 they had run into serious financial difficulties and were forc ed to sel l their business. Commelin’s business had also changed a lot since 1671. He had acquired the rights to publish Amsterdam’s official newspaper, which provided such steady income that he ceased his other publishing activities. Thus, Com- melin was no long er publishing boo ks at the time he obtained the extension of the rights for Witsen’s book. Commelin probably applied for the renew al not because he intended to bring out a new edition of the work but because he still had copies of the 16 71 edition in stoc k and w anted to c ontinue to protect his assets.23 It is difficult to give an estim ate of the number of copies printed. For a book of average size and quality, the print run was about 1,000 to 1,500 copies in seventeenth-century Holland.24 But Witsen’s book was more for the high end of the market, so the print run could have been lower than these figures. Another indication is the number of surviving copies. Nearly all important maritime librar- ies with historical collections and the major general libraries worldwide seem to own a copy. Even today the work, although rare, is occasionally available on the
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