DE RENNEVILLE, R.A.C. - Insula S. Laurentii.

Miniature map of Madagascar, with four inset maps. From the French reissue of the account of early Dutch voyages first published in 1608 by Commelin. The French translation was carried out by René Augustin Constantin de Renneville, entitled : Recueil des voiages qui ont servi à l'établissement & aux progrès de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales formée dans les Provinces-Unies des Païs-Bas. . ..
From volume one, the second part describes the first Dutch voyage by way of the Cape of Good Hope under the command of Houtman (1595-96).
Upon their successful return with spices from the East Indies, the Dutch focused all their fleets on the south-eastern route over the next few years, resulting in the formation of the Dutch East India Company in 1602.