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1 1 This book is about seventeenth-century Dutch shipbuilding, a rather inaccessible field of research up to now. The earliest written sources appear only in the second half of the 1600s, known as Holland’s Golden Century. It is unfortunate that the first Dutch book ever written on the subject is very impenetrable. The bulk of the information that Nicolaes Witsen presents in his Aeloude en Hedendaegse Scheeps-bouw en Bestier (Ancient and Modern Shipbuilding and Management, 1671) remains hidden in cloudy formulations and a chaotic structure. Still, it is an extremely valuable book that needs and deserves clarification and attention, which I have attempted to do in the present volume by offering a guide into Witsen’s work and the world of his subject—the almost forgotten basics of a craft that contributed as no other to the fl ourishing Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century. Nicolaes Witsen Nicolaes Corneliszoon Witsen was born on May 8, 1641, the son of an influential Amsterdam merchant. He studied law at LeidenUniversity, and in 1664 he visited Russia as a member of Jacob Boreel’s legation. Here he collected information on the land and people of Russia and later published a map of “Tartarije” (Russia). After his return to Amsterdam he became a member of the town council. Thirteen times he held the offi ce of burgomaster of Amsterdam. In 16 71 he published the first treatise on shipbuilding in Holland, Aeloude en Hedendaegse Scheepsbouw en Bestier, a second edition of which appeared in 1690 (for a comparison of the two editions, see “Variations on Witsen” by Diederick Wildeman in the appendix ). In 1672, the “Disaster Year,” he became a member of the committee for the defense of the city of Amsterdam, and in 1674 a council delegate.1 As a diplomat he was active in England and Scandinavia, and he was the host and mentor of Pe ter the Great during the cz ar’s visits to Holland. In 1692 he published a second important treatise, Noord en Oost-Tartarije (reprinted in 1705), in which he displayed his knowledge of the Russian Empire. He remained an active administrator well into his old age, as is demonstrated by his efforts concerning the placement of beacons on the Zuider Zee. On August 10, 1717, he died and was buried in Egmond aan de Hoef , where he had a c ountry mansion named Huis Tytverdijf (Pastime).2 Why a patrician like Witsen chose to engage himself in a subject like shipbuilding —which was probably a trivial pastime in the eyes of his peers, and did so, moreover, at the level of the actual practices of the shipyard—remains an ฀ one฀ Introduction Chapter 1 2 Holland, such an impor tant work on n aval architecture. This can be traced back to three sources. Part of his knowledge came from books, many of which he read in the incomparable Library of the very learned and esteemed gentleman Isaak Vossius (53 II 18) in Leiden (now part of the Leiden University Library). A second important source can be found in iconography: the collection of coins and medals of his brother Johan Witsen, secretary of the city of Amsterdam, with primitive depictions of ships, together with the engravings he found in the incomparable treasure of engravings and drawings of the very learned gentleman Mr. Johan Uitenbogaert, revenue o cer for the city of Amsterdam (24 II 28). Both sources provided material for the historical sections of his book. For his knowledge of contemporary shipbuilding, fi nally, he interviewed men of the trade. Jan Jacobszoon Vijzelaar, for instance, a former shipbuilder from Harlingen, was the interesting question. It was indeed highly uncommon for a gentleman in his day. But Nicolaes Witsen can be seen as one of the most representative figures of the Dut ch Renaissance: an al l-round scientist who, in addition to the above-mentioned activities, was an ardent collector , accomplished amateur graphic artist, cartographer, and Maecenas of scientific research. He encouraged his friends who sailed to the East Indies to bring back plants and animals for his collection. His taste for science and technology can be interpret ed as an unc easing effort to understand the nature and purpose of creation.3 His open-minded interest in anything th at might lead to a better understanding of God’s creation characterizes him as a valuable, albeit unconventional, representative of his time.4 The question arises of how Witsen acquired the knowledge that prompted...

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