Frontpage of Spilbergen's Historiael Journaal

Joris van Spilbergen’s 1601-1604 expedition to Ceylon, Aceh and Bantam yielded few major trade results. However, he was the first Dutchman to travel to the court of the kingdom of Kandy and participated in the capture of a Portuguese carrack in the Strait of Malacca. Upon his return to the Dutch Republic, Van Spilbergen worked to publish his journal, which he did in 1605 with Floris Balthasar in Delft. Later an edition was published with the Amsterdam publisher Michiel Colijn. This image shows the front page of that edition of the Historiael Journaal.