First(?) edition (one of two dated 1608) of a polemical discourse in Dutch strongly advocating freedom of trade for the Dutch East India Company, sometimes attributed to Willem Usselincx (1567-1647). After 1600 the Dutch met growing successes in their war of independence from Spain, and in 1605 they captured large parts of the East Indies that had belonged to the united Spanish and Portuguese crown. This forced the Spanish to agree to a cease-fire in 1607. Negotiations began, but the Dutch merchants vehemently opposed any concessions to Spain. This set off a pamphlet war, especially on the subject of free trade in the East and West Indies. The present discourse discusses the Dutch trade in both the East and the West Indies and the trade routes to the East, both around the Cape of Good Hope and via the Strait of Magellan, including a brief description of all territories from the Cape via Ceylon to the East Indies and Philippines. It also emphasises the great commercial profits of the trade and gives some information on the early Dutch voyages to the East Indies.
Slightly browned, and with a water stain at the head, slightly affecting the first two or three lines of text on most pages, but still in good condition. Lacking the final blank leaf. The binding is very good. An influential, radical anti-Spanish pamphlet on the rights of the VOC, banned by the Dutch government only months after its publication. JCB II, p. 56; Knuttel 1428; Landwehr, VOC 47; Sabin 98192; cf. Asher 35 (variant ed.).