Warhafftige Relation. Derer dreyen newen unerhörten, seltzamen Schiffart, so die Holländischen und Seeländischen Schiff Anno 1594. 1595. Und 1596.

Among the countless tales of the exciting adventures and incredible hardships experienced by European explorers during the 16th century, Gerrit de Veer’s account of the Dutch expeditions led by Willem Barents to find the Northeast Passage, a shortcut to Asia, is among the most incredible. After the first two expeditions in 1594 and 1595 failed, the third attempt in 1596 successfully found a way through the Arctic Ocean during the summer melt when they reached the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya. There the crew had to spend a frigid winter among the grinding ice and polar bears before their celebrated return the following spring. Already published in 1598 in Amsterdam, the account is illustrated by numerous engravings including a vignette on the title page depicting a Dutch sailor and a Sami flanking their ship stuck in the ice as well as a man shooting a bear who is mauling another man. It was an instant best seller that was translated into German by Levinus Hulsius and published in Nuremberg in the same year.