That Would Be Nice

That would be so nice. Walk a little. Eat a little. Read a little. Sleep a little. Make love a little more. Stroll over Santo Antão Island and São Vicente Island. Enjoy the smells and warmth.

18:11

Yesterday at 18:11 hours - I remember looking at the clock because I promished to start cooking dinner at 18 sharp - I finished my book on the Cape Verde Islands. After three years this transcription and translation of 17th century Dutch documents reached its end.

My foreword ends with this. In a nutshell it tells it all:

"The main goal of this annotated translation is to unlock this unique and beautiful 17th century Dutch treasure to humanity. To remove the veil from the Cape Verde Islands. In a time that information and products floated over the seas with – take a deep breath and try to visualize – the speed of a sailing ship. With sailors on them of whom roughly 25% would never see the harbour again they started their voyage from."

What is left is checking foot- and endnotes and editing. It will be published as a print-on-demand book.

Take me to ...

Ilha de Santo Antão

Pictures from Sjor Massar and @Kalzennyg.

Without Title

P.S. This location is probably on the Cabo Verde Islands. I don't know where exactly. Source: video of song 'Flor de Bilo' from Neuza (3:18).

Pouring Out Sorrows

Little known. Little understood. Little read. 

Little known islands. Little understood Cape Verdean. Little read? I guess Américo C. Araújo's book 'Little Known. The European Side of Cape Verde Islands' (2000) is not read by many. It took me some transpiration to get a copy of this book to Europe.

The book has (at least) four storylines.

Little understood. According to Araújo there are two misconceptions on the people of the Cabo Verde Islands. First, that Cape Verdean ('Cabo-verdiano') designates a race. For them Cabo Verde is not biological or racial (whose children are black, white and mostly in between) but a culture of all the people living on the Cabo Verde Islands. They are aware that their ancestors all came from different backgrounds in the outside world. "Cape Verde may be racially pluralistic, but culturally she is and has always been one" [1]. Second, all the whites are descendants of political or criminal exiles ('degredados'). According to Araújo this is for the biggest part nonsense because most whites came to the islands to administer the place or to do commerce. "It certainly wasn't to 'degredados' or 'lançados' that the King [of Portugal] would bestow the honor of overseeing his interests" [2]. 

Golden days. The writer looks back to his childhood on the islands Brava and Fogo with great pleasure and being proud on his family background. "My early childhood in Brava is very special to me. I well remember, when I was four or five, in the early evening hours, as the days begin to cool, the evening fog would rise up the mountain, enveloping the sleepy villa of Nova Sintra in a cool mist, while far off in the distance the church bells would be tolling, calling the faithful to prayer."

His mother was a European Cape Verdean of Portuguese and Jewish ancestry. In 1958 his father died of TB at the age of forty-seven. Américo was thirteen years old. In 1960 his mother went to work in the "sweat-shops" in New Bedford (U.S.A) after being "called" by her oldest son Rafael.  A year later Américo went to America. Where he got educated and became a teacher of Romance Languages [3]. 

Litte status. Being born in one of the colonies of Portugal is bad for someone his career. Admiral Carlos Reis (1852-1910) was born on Brava and found death in Lisbon. He was not to be the first president of Portugal! Eliminated because he was born in a colony and could not be allowed to ascend to the presidency [4].

Capo Verdean poets and poems. Américo gives the background of five important poets coming from the Cabo Verde Islands: Eugénio Tavares (1867-1930), João José Nunes (1885-1965), Sérgio Bonucci Frusoni (1901 - ?), Jorge Vera Cruz Barbosa (1902-1971) and Jorge Pedro Barbosa (?-?). And a couple of poems of each of them. The poem I liked best is 'O Baile' from J.V.C. Barbosa - translation from Cape Verdean Crioulo into English is from Araújo [5]:

Notes

1. Page 4, 14, 33,180 and 189

2. Page 158-160

3. Page 42 and 58

4. Page 160-169

5. Page 142

Right In The Middle

In 1629 Hessel Gerritsz (ca 1582-1632) made a routebook ('roteiro') for the Dutch West India Company (WIC). Strategic information for securing Brazil. The Dutch were eagerly after the yields of sugar cane from the Portuguese. 

Right in the middle of Europe and Brazil are the Cabo Verde Islands located. For the Dutch, both for the VOC and WIC, the place for (re)grouping ships and stocking fresh supplies.

A part of this routebook, around 80 pages, is about the Cabo Verde Islands. All the islands are described in detail: defence systems, population and slaves, where to dock, fruit etcetera. Including maps of the islands.

The manuscript is never published or translated. I want to unlock this document - this treasure house - for humanity. In one book: copy of manuscript, typoscript in old Dutch, translation in modern Dutch, translation in Portuguese and translation in English. Nice and important puzzle to solve :)

Ben Teensma already made the typoscript in old Dutch and translation in Portuguese. I have to add the translation in modern Dutch and English.

Read 'Cinco Séculos de Cartografia'

Wrote a blogpost 'Os Holandeses (part 1)' #caboverde. Spin off of reading the six pages of Teixeira da Mota's article 'Cinco Séculos de Cartografia das Ilhas de Cabo Verde' (1961).

677 vs. 7.4

677 kilometer on GoogleMaps and 7.4 centimeter on the Benincasa map from year 1473. I used this ratio as point zero for caculating how accurate the distances were on the 541 year old map. Wrote a blogpost 'Pretty Reliable' on this subject with more details #caboverde

Four Maps Most Important

Wrote a blogpost 'Benincasa 1468 and 1469. Four Most Important Maps' #caboverde

Islands in Blue, Red, Gold Leaf and Green

Wrote a blogpost 'Benincasa 1468 Princes of Trabia. Islands in Blue, Red, Gold Leaf and Green' #caboverde 

In Dutch Appel Boomgaert

Wrote a blogpost 'Apple Orchard. In Dutch Appel Boomgaert' #caboverde

Which Benincasa's 1468 Map?

Wrote blogpost 'Benincasa's 1468 map?': here.

Before Benincasa

Is this island Santiago on the Fra Mauro Map of the World made in 1459?

Wrote blogpost 'Before Benincasa': here.

Makes Me Happy

Started a new project in a blog: Cape Verde Maps.

I don't have time for it but I'll do it anyway. It makes me happy :)

There is never a perfect moment to gain a lover. Or to loose one. There is never a perfect moment to read a new book, start a new blog or project. I am an Epicurean on this: step by step. Little steps if I have to. It makes me happy to collect maps, before 1975, of Cabo Verde and puzzle on them. 

350 Year Old Map

Two days ago I bought this 350 year old map of Cabo Verde.

I defined a new project for me: writing a book on Cabo Verde maps between 1455 and 1975. Looking for proof on the maps for slavery and the economic use of these islands.

300 Years Cabo Verde Maps

The Cape Verde (Portuguese 'Cabo Verde') islands were discovered between 1455 and 1461. (Remember that Columbus discovered the American continents, thirty years later, in 1492.) The credit generally goes to de Noli, Gomes and Diogo Afonso.The oldest map with the islands included, was made in year 1468 by Benincasa. Just some dots in a corner. Nothing fancy. Source: here.

The first real recognizable map dates from 1598 by Langenes.  Throughout the 1500s ship supply (water and food) was the islands' great function. In those years Santiago was the main island with Ribeira Grande as the capital. Next to water and food for ships, the islands produced "seasoned" slaves and cotton. 

In 1712 the French robbed Ribeira Grande of all its riches.

After the abolishing of slavery - 1854 as business and 1876 private - Cape Verde became the place of exile for Portuguese thieves and political dissidents.

 In the 20th century São Vincente became the chief commercial centre. Not fertile Santiago. 

300 year Cape Verde maps resumed:

Is the history of Cape Verde reflected on the maps? I couldn't find any proof of slavery on the maps. Can you?

Map 1. 1598 Langenes Barent. Source: here.

Map 2. 1640-1660 Anonymous. Source: here.

Map 3. 1662 Blaeu J. Source: here.

Map 4. 1683 Mallet Allain Manesson. Source: here.

Map 5. 1684 Ioannes Van Keulen. Source: here.

Map 6. 1691 Coronelli. Source: here.

Map 7. 1745 Roberts. Source: here.

Map 8. 1746 Bellin Jacques Nicolas. Source: here.

Map 9. 1749 Vaugondy. Source: here.

Map 10. 1765 Bellin. Source: here.

Map 11. 1780-1790 Bonne Rigobert. Source: here.

Map 12. 1788 Jefferys. Source: here.

Map 13. 1823 Fielding. Source: here.

Map 14. 1827 Vandermaelen. Source: here.

Map 15. 1827 Letts. Source: here.

Map 16. 1844 Lopes. Source: here.

Map 17. 1911 Encyclopaedia Brittannica. Source: here.

P.S. I can look and study for hours on maps like these. Surprised? 

Spot the Differences

Cabo Verde. Those lovely islands halfway between my country and Brasil. I could live on São Antão. In a little house with banana trees in the garden #dream.

Between Xmas and New Year's Day we visited Museum Boerhaave in Leiden. In one of the rooms I found two old Globes of Planet Earth. On both of them Cabo Verde :)

Willem Janszoon Blaeu around 1618:

George Adams around 1765:

On Days Like This

For me? Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out.

Other topic. Cabo Verde pictures: