HIGH HOPES, WILD MEN AND THE DEVIL’S JAW - Willem Barentsz Kolderstok 1:50

Before I continue with the Russian Connection, I would like to share with you all the release of a new book on the Voyages of Barents

9781982113346.jpgows_59a53ca4_4015_40d0_8ae3_d8e0e33798d8.jpg

Published in 2021, Icebound is written in modern English and is a lovely read. It has received rave reviews from all over the world and I can highly recommend it for its accuracy and comprehensiveness. For me reading this was sheer pleasure after struggling through the countless translations of the De Veer diaries written in Old Dutch.

Description:

In the bestselling tradition of Hampton Sides’s In the Kingdom of Ice, a “gripping adventure tale” (The Boston Globe) recounting Dutch polar explorer William Barents’ three harrowing Arctic expeditions—the last of which resulted in a relentlessly challenging year-long fight for survival.

The human story has always been one of perseverance—often against remarkable odds. The most astonishing survival tale of all might be that of 16th-century Dutch explorer William Barents and his crew of sixteen, who ventured farther north than any Europeans before and, on their third polar exploration, lost their ship off the frozen coast of Nova Zembla to unforgiving ice. The men would spend the next year fighting off ravenous polar bears, gnawing hunger, and endless winter.

In Icebound, Andrea Pitzer masterfully combines a gripping tale of survival with a sweeping history of the great Age of Exploration—a time of hope, adventure, and seemingly unlimited geographic frontiers. At the story’s center is William Barents, one of the 16th century’s greatest navigators whose larger-than-life ambitions and obsessive quest to chart a path through the deepest, most remote regions of the Arctic ended in both tragedy and glory. Journalist Pitzer did extensive research, learning how to use four-hundred-year-old navigation equipment, setting out on three Arctic expeditions to retrace Barents’s steps, and visiting replicas of Barents’s ship and cabin.

“A resonant meditation on human ingenuity, resilience, and hope” (The New Yorker), Pitzer’s reenactment of Barents’s ill-fated journey shows us how the human body can function at twenty degrees below, the history of mutiny, the art of celestial navigation, and the intricacies of building shelters. But above all, it gives us a firsthand glimpse into the true nature of courage.

The best of it all is that the book is available as a free PDF download. Just follow the prompts in the link below and download your free copy. Trust me, it makes for fascinating reading!

oceanofpdf.com

[PDF] [EPUB] Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World Download

Download Book "Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World" by Author "Andrea Pitzer" in [PDF] [EPUB]. Original Title ISBN "9781982113360" published on "2021-1-7" in Edition Language: "". Get Full eBook File name "Icebound_-_Andrea_Pitzer.pdf .epub" Format Complete Free. Genres: "Adult...
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Absolutely stunning research! Thanks for sharing.
Too bad that there was apparently little to no cooperation between the Russian and Dutch archeologists, unfortunately, the current day situation precludes any cooperation for the foreseeable future.
Still it would be interesting to know in how far the Russian plans to build a replica have materialized and how their interpretation would compare to the Dutch replica (sorry Heinrich, I know you're not a big fan) and other interpretations, either in regenerated plans or in models.
Reading through the articles I noted that their expeditions was severely hampered by the weather. That's with present day arctic clothing, protection and equipment. Now try to imagine how that must have been in the 16th century... Those men must have suffered beyond imagination.
 
RDN1954 said:
Absolutely stunning research! Thanks for sharing.
Too bad that there was apparently little to no cooperation between the Russian and Dutch archeologists, unfortunately, the current day situation precludes any cooperation for the foreseeable future.
Still it would be interesting to know in how far the Russian plans to build a replica have materialized and how their interpretation would compare to the Dutch replica (sorry Heinrich, I know you're not a big fan) and other interpretations, either in regenerated plans or in models.
Reading through the articles I noted that their expeditions was severely hampered by the weather. That's with present day arctic clothing, protection and equipment. Now try to imagine how that must have been in the 16th century... Those men must have suffered beyond imagination.
Click to expand...
Johan if ever there were a prize for the SOS member whose posts challenge me and my knowledge the most, you will win hands down! ROTF And I simply love it - so please keep these questions coming! Thumbsup

The problem is that we do not know how their research as such is coming along. As far as I know there is no replica yet, but I cannot say this for sure. But I do know that they have not sat still, and they most certainly have renderings of their own. You say I am not a big fan of other interpretations, but you are wrong! If any other presentation is more believable to me than mine or to what has been available up to now, I am absolutely open to it. I would love nothing more than to be able to say that my rendering is a complete piece of junk; PROVIDED that I believe in my heart of hearts that another rendering is better or more accurate!

And let me tell you something, I am so impressed by their renderings (I have two!!!) that I am seriously considering building a third version of Barentsz's ship and this time it will have a name, because the Russians are in absolutely no doubt as to what the name of Barentsz's ship was! (and, it is NOT the Witte Swaen!!!) Just be patient for a little while longer while I am thrashing out details and I will for sure present my findings.

But at this point I also have to stop and give a massive shout to @Walterone Vladimir for obtaining the one rendering for me and putting me into contact with the Russian Master model builder who is responsible for the other one. In actual fact, both renderings are possibilities because of Vladimir.

Thank you Vladimir - without your help and advice I wouldn't be where I am now in my research!
 
Heinrich said:
Before I continue with the Russian Connection, I would like to share with you all the release of a new book on the Voyages of Barents

View attachment 352901View attachment 352902

Published in 2021, Icebound is written in modern English and is a lovely read. It has received rave reviews from all over the world and I can highly recommend it for its accuracy and comprehensiveness. For me reading this was sheer pleasure after struggling through the countless translations of the De Veer diaries written in Old Dutch.

Description:

In the bestselling tradition of Hampton Sides’s In the Kingdom of Ice, a “gripping adventure tale” (The Boston Globe) recounting Dutch polar explorer William Barents’ three harrowing Arctic expeditions—the last of which resulted in a relentlessly challenging year-long fight for survival.

The human story has always been one of perseverance—often against remarkable odds. The most astonishing survival tale of all might be that of 16th-century Dutch explorer William Barents and his crew of sixteen, who ventured farther north than any Europeans before and, on their third polar exploration, lost their ship off the frozen coast of Nova Zembla to unforgiving ice. The men would spend the next year fighting off ravenous polar bears, gnawing hunger, and endless winter.

In Icebound, Andrea Pitzer masterfully combines a gripping tale of survival with a sweeping history of the great Age of Exploration—a time of hope, adventure, and seemingly unlimited geographic frontiers. At the story’s center is William Barents, one of the 16th century’s greatest navigators whose larger-than-life ambitions and obsessive quest to chart a path through the deepest, most remote regions of the Arctic ended in both tragedy and glory. Journalist Pitzer did extensive research, learning how to use four-hundred-year-old navigation equipment, setting out on three Arctic expeditions to retrace Barents’s steps, and visiting replicas of Barents’s ship and cabin.

“A resonant meditation on human ingenuity, resilience, and hope” (The New Yorker), Pitzer’s reenactment of Barents’s ill-fated journey shows us how the human body can function at twenty degrees below, the history of mutiny, the art of celestial navigation, and the intricacies of building shelters. But above all, it gives us a firsthand glimpse into the true nature of courage.

The best of it all is that the book is available as a free PDF download. Just follow the prompts in the link below and download your free copy. Trust me, it makes for fascinating reading!

oceanofpdf.com

[PDF] [EPUB] Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World Download

Download Book "Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World" by Author "Andrea Pitzer" in [PDF] [EPUB]. Original Title ISBN "9781982113360" published on "2021-1-7" in Edition Language: "". Get Full eBook File name "Icebound_-_Andrea_Pitzer.pdf .epub" Format Complete Free. Genres: "Adult...
oceanofpdf.com oceanofpdf.com
Click to expand...
Must be a very thrilling book! Pity no one bothered how the name of Willem Barentsz should have been written. They all forget the Z at the end, which means that Willem was the son of Barent. Barentsz. means in fact Barent his son, or in Dutch Barent's zoon. This explains the Z at the end.
Surnames where not always common in the 17th century (it was Napoleon who made surnames obligatory in the Netherlands on the 18th of august in 1811), and Willem Barentsz his full name was Willem Barentsz van der Schelling. This van der Schelling meant in fact that he came from (van) Der Schelling - which is the older name for the insula Terschelling.
Jan Huygen van Linschoten (mentioned before - one of the initiators of the first expidition via the North) mentiones in his journal of the first expedition:

“Op ’t schip van Amsterdam was schipper en stuerman Willem Barentsz van der schelling, Boirgher t’ Amsterdam, een seer ervaren ende bedreven Man in de const van de Zeevaert, hebbende bij hem een schellinger Visschersjacht, om hem in sijn voorghenomen Reyse gheselschap te houden.”
Roughly translated:
"On 't schip van Amsterdam was skipper Willem Barentsz van der schelling, citizen of Amsterdam, a very experienced and adept man in the art of the seafarer, having with him a schellinger Visschersjacht, to keep him company in his aforesaid journey."

On the internet I found this piece of information, but I couldn't check the origin of it:

(Translated)
Willem Barentsz himself did not write much. Here and there we find notes, but they do not bring us any closer to the person. His ship's logs of his voyage around the north are lost. In the preface to his map atlas of the Mediterranean (1595), Willem Barentsz writes of himself:

“Van sijne kintsche daghen aen altijt gheneghen gheweest was , omme nae alle syn vermoghen de Landen die hy bewandelde ofte beseylde Caertsghewijse met de omloopende Zeen, Wateren ende Streckinghen af te beelden.”
"From his youth onwards he was always keen to use his full capacities to write down and draw all the land he visited or waterways, seas and shores he sailed along."

His name was and is written in different ways. He himself sometimes signed Willem Barentszoon or Willem Barentsoen. On the cedelken, he signed (as far as legible) with Wylhem Barents. (The cedelken was the small note Barentsz left in the chimney of the Behouden Huys - see image. Hans)

At the first expedition in 1594, we first encounter his name in writings. He died in the far North in 1597, leaving a wife and five children in poverty in Amsterdam. His name lives on thanks to the travel descriptions of the three expeditions he took part in. From the travel descriptions and all the writings surrounding them, you can get an impression of the person Barentsz, Barentsz was a religious man. His motto was "Not without God".

Cedelken.jpeg
 
Heinrich said:
Before I continue with the Russian Connection, I would like to share with you all the release of a new book on the Voyages of Barents

View attachment 352901View attachment 352902

Published in 2021, Icebound is written in modern English and is a lovely read. It has received rave reviews from all over the world and I can highly recommend it for its accuracy and comprehensiveness. For me reading this was sheer pleasure after struggling through the countless translations of the De Veer diaries written in Old Dutch.

Description:

In the bestselling tradition of Hampton Sides’s In the Kingdom of Ice, a “gripping adventure tale” (The Boston Globe) recounting Dutch polar explorer William Barents’ three harrowing Arctic expeditions—the last of which resulted in a relentlessly challenging year-long fight for survival.

The human story has always been one of perseverance—often against remarkable odds. The most astonishing survival tale of all might be that of 16th-century Dutch explorer William Barents and his crew of sixteen, who ventured farther north than any Europeans before and, on their third polar exploration, lost their ship off the frozen coast of Nova Zembla to unforgiving ice. The men would spend the next year fighting off ravenous polar bears, gnawing hunger, and endless winter.

In Icebound, Andrea Pitzer masterfully combines a gripping tale of survival with a sweeping history of the great Age of Exploration—a time of hope, adventure, and seemingly unlimited geographic frontiers. At the story’s center is William Barents, one of the 16th century’s greatest navigators whose larger-than-life ambitions and obsessive quest to chart a path through the deepest, most remote regions of the Arctic ended in both tragedy and glory. Journalist Pitzer did extensive research, learning how to use four-hundred-year-old navigation equipment, setting out on three Arctic expeditions to retrace Barents’s steps, and visiting replicas of Barents’s ship and cabin.

“A resonant meditation on human ingenuity, resilience, and hope” (The New Yorker), Pitzer’s reenactment of Barents’s ill-fated journey shows us how the human body can function at twenty degrees below, the history of mutiny, the art of celestial navigation, and the intricacies of building shelters. But above all, it gives us a firsthand glimpse into the true nature of courage.

The best of it all is that the book is available as a free PDF download. Just follow the prompts in the link below and download your free copy. Trust me, it makes for fascinating reading!

oceanofpdf.com

[PDF] [EPUB] Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World Download

Download Book "Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World" by Author "Andrea Pitzer" in [PDF] [EPUB]. Original Title ISBN "9781982113360" published on "2021-1-7" in Edition Language: "". Get Full eBook File name "Icebound_-_Andrea_Pitzer.pdf .epub" Format Complete Free. Genres: "Adult...
oceanofpdf.com oceanofpdf.com
Click to expand...
Good morning Heinrich. You have done it again! Your research and sharing is one of a kind. Fantastic. Cheers Grant
 
Kolderstok said:
Must be a very thrilling book! Pity no one bothered how the name of Willem Barentsz should have been written. They all forget the Z at the end, which means that Willem was the son of Barent. Barentsz. means in fact Barent his son, or in Dutch Barent's zoon. This explains the Z at the end.
Surnames where not always common in the 17th century (it was Napoleon who made surnames obligatory in the Netherlands on the 18th of august in 1811), and Willem Barentsz his full name was Willem Barentsz van der Schelling. This van der Schelling meant in fact that he came from (van) Der Schelling - which is the older name for the insula Terschelling.
Jan Huygen van Linschoten (mentioned before - one of the initiators of the first expidition via the North) mentiones in his journal of the first expedition:

“Op ’t schip van Amsterdam was schipper en stuerman Willem Barentsz van der schelling, Boirgher t’ Amsterdam, een seer ervaren ende bedreven Man in de const van de Zeevaert, hebbende bij hem een schellinger Visschersjacht, om hem in sijn voorghenomen Reyse gheselschap te houden.”
Roughly translated:
"On 't schip van Amsterdam was skipper Willem Barentsz van der schelling, citizen of Amsterdam, a very experienced and adept man in the art of the seafarer, having with him a schellinger Visschersjacht, to keep him company in his aforesaid journey."

On the internet I found this piece of information, but I couldn't check the origin of it:

(Translated)
Willem Barentsz himself did not write much. Here and there we find notes, but they do not bring us any closer to the person. His ship's logs of his voyage around the north are lost. In the preface to his map atlas of the Mediterranean (1595), Willem Barentsz writes of himself:

“Van sijne kintsche daghen aen altijt gheneghen gheweest was , omme nae alle syn vermoghen de Landen die hy bewandelde ofte beseylde Caertsghewijse met de omloopende Zeen, Wateren ende Streckinghen af te beelden.”
"From his youth onwards he was always keen to use his full capacities to write down and draw all the land he visited or waterways, seas and shores he sailed along."

His name was and is written in different ways. He himself sometimes signed Willem Barentszoon or Willem Barentsoen. On the cedelken, he signed (as far as legible) with Wylhem Barents. (The cedelken was the small note Barentsz left in the chimney of the Behouden Huys - see image. Hans)

At the first expedition in 1594, we first encounter his name in writings. He died in the far North in 1597, leaving a wife and five children in poverty in Amsterdam. His name lives on thanks to the travel descriptions of the three expeditions he took part in. From the travel descriptions and all the writings surrounding them, you can get an impression of the person Barentsz, Barentsz was a religious man. His motto was "Not without God".

View attachment 352926
Click to expand...
That is wonderful information Hans. Now it is so interesting that you mention the spelling of Barentsz's surname. You are of course absolutely correct in your summary of the name. And yet, we find the name "Barents" in the title of Hoving's book "Het Schip van Willem Barents". I do have some understanding if a non-Dutch person gets it wrong (let me tell you not many English-speaking people use the apostrophe s in the English language correctly, but the reason for it being like that in the title of the book, I have no explanation for.

In the same way the Zeeland ship, "De Zwaan" is also referred to in official documents as the "Swane", or "Zwane", so which is now the correct one?
 
Heinrich said:
Hi Jack. That is an excellent question for which no apologies are needed. Actually, I have wondered about this myself. For sure there is the geographical fact that Nova Zembla (Novaya Zemlaya in Russian) belongs to Russia and thus we can explain the Russian interest from that angle. But there seems to be something more afoot here. The Russians seems to have an enormous affinity towards Willem Barentsz as a historical figure - regularly citing his feats of courage and fearlessness in combination with his pioneering spirit.

Conversely, one can also ask the question why the Dutch seem to have so little interest in their own maritime history. They showed great interest in Het Behouden Huys (the house where Barentsz and his crew spent the winter) - the great number of artefacts in Het Behouden Huys Museum Tercshelling and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam bear testimony to this - but little interest in Barentsz's ship. So little, that they do not even know the name of the ship.
Click to expand...
interesting information. thanks
 
Heinrich said:
Johan if ever there were a prize for the SOS member whose posts challenge me and my knowledge the most, you will win hands down! ROTF And I simply love it - so please keep these questions coming! Thumbsup

The problem is that we do not know how their research as such is coming along. As far as I know there is no replica yet, but I cannot say this for sure. But I do know that they have not sat still, and they most certainly have renderings of their own. You say I am not a big fan of other interpretations, but you are wrong! If any other presentation is more believable to me than mine or to what has been available up to now, I am absolutely open to it. I would love nothing more than to be able to say that my rendering is a complete piece of junk; PROVIDED that I believe in my heart of hearts that another rendering is better or more accurate!

And let me tell you something, I am so impressed by their renderings (I have two!!!) that I am seriously considering building a third version of Barentsz's ship and this time it will have a name, because the Russians are in absolutely no doubt as to what the name of Barentsz's ship was! (and, it is NOT the Witte Swaen!!!) Just be patient for a little while longer while I am thrashing out details and I will for sure present my findings.

But at this point I also have to stop and give a massive shout to @Walterone Vladimir for obtaining the one rendering for me and putting me into contact with the Russian Master model builder who is responsible for the other one. In actual fact, both renderings are possibilities because of Vladimir.

Thank you Vladimir - without your help and advice I wouldn't be where I am now in my research!
Click to expand...
Thanks, Heinrich.
But in all honesty, you're just a big tease, aren't you?
Giving some information to make us curious and then, nothing... Sick
 
Heinrich said:
That is wonderful information Hans. Now it is so interesting that you mention the spelling of Barentsz's surname. You are of course absolutely correct in your summary of the name. And yet, we find the name "Barents" in the title of Hoving's book "Het Schip van Willem Barents". I do have some understanding if a non-Dutch person gets it wrong (let me tell you not many English-speaking people use the apostrophe s in the English language correctly, but the reason for it being like that in the title of the book, I have no explanation for.

In the same way the Zeeland ship, "De Zwaan" is also referred to in official documents as the "Swane", or "Zwane", so which is now the correct one?
Click to expand...
It was not earlier than in 1804 that official spelling rules were introduced in the Netherlands. Before that spelling was more or less “free”. Writers often used the spelling as it was done in the Statenbijbel (the official bible of that time), but there was no consensus in it. So Zwane and Swane where both possible.
 
Kolderstok said:
It was not earlier than in 1804 that official spelling rules were introduced in the Netherlands. Before that spelling was more or less “free”. Writers often used the spelling as it was done in the Statenbijbel (the official bible of that time), but there was no consensus in it. So Zwane and Swane where both possible.
Click to expand...
I understand. So, would that not also apply to the spelling of Barentsz's name?
 
I mentioned earlier in my reply to @Jack Sparrow Jack that the Russians seemed to have a particular adoration for Willem Barentsz. In fact, reading the Russian documents has given me a far greater sense of the struggles that Barentsz had to contend with and the feats that he has achieved against sometimes remarkable odds than what one gathers from De Veer's diaries.

From the article "Ships Salute Him" by B. Timofeev (Translated from Russian)
"We, the undersigned, declare before God and before the world that we have done everything in our power to penetrate through the North Sea to China and Japan., as we were ordered in our instructions. Finally, we saw that God did not want us to continue our journey, and that it was necessary to abandon the enterprise. Therefore, we decided to return to Holland as soon as possible."

Placing his well-groomed, ringed hands - which looked more like those of a nobleman than a sailor - on the parchment, Cornelis Corneliszoon Nay* looked around his audience. His gaze was met by tired, unshaven faces which had been blackened from continuous vigils and winds, frowning glances whose depths hid a constantly lurking danger, best unspoken of.

The Admiral chuckled. He was not mistaken in his assumptions: the men who were sitting in front of him would sign any resolution if only … the admiral shifted his gaze towards the depths of the small cabin … if only that madman and troublemaker did not get in the way. And, if that happens, Nay, a nobleman and cavalier, would simply, by the power vested in him by the government, bind the disobedient to a feeling of guilt.

The parchment passed from hand to hand. Silently, without looking at one another, the captains signed it. Only a man sitting at the end of the table with sharp and large facial features and a forehead wrinkled in thought, remained motionless.

“Willem Barents, we are waiting for you!"

“A lie - even declared in the name of God and peace - remains a lie, Cornelis Nay.”

“Think about what you are saying, Wiljam Barents. Are you refusing to sign the resolution? (Verbatim)

“I refuse! We must continue the voyage to complete it!”

Thus, or approximately thus one can imagine the scene that took place in the late summer of 1595 on the flagship of the 2nd Dutch expedition to find the Northeast Passage.

Despite the objections of the flotilla navigator, Willem Barents, the ships, having encountered heavy ice off the island of the Local in the Kara Sea, returned to Holland. But the court of history is impartial and fair. The name of Barents is now the name given to the vast sea; ships and the men who sail in them, salute his grave. Yes, he died in the Arctic, her faithful servant and knight, proving by his very death that great ideas triumph only through dedication and fearlessness.

* Cornelis Corneliszoon Nay was the Admiral and Fleet Commander of the 7 ships that undertook the 1595 expedition. Before their empty-handed return to Holland, Nay required of each of his captains to sign the Resolution which would absolve him of all responsibility for the premature return.
 
Kolderstok said:
Fully true, and there is no problem in spelling Barents without the Z. Everyone knows who we are talking about.
I prefer Barentsz. :)
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That is for certain, Hans! If you become so intimately involved with something as I have here, you don't even think in terms of names anymore (EXCEPT Barentsz's ship's name of course!); it becomes more a case of constantly working with concepts, ideas and permutations. I cannot draw to save my life, but if I could, I would have been able to draw at least three of the plates in De Veer's diary perfectly out of my head! ROTF
 
Pathfinder65 said:
Fascinating history. Hard to imagine what those mariners tried to accomplish.
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Jan, do yourself a favor and download Icebound. I promise you, that once you start reading it, it will be very difficult to put down. It's really that good!
 
I was rummaging around on the internet yesterday after reading your fascinating posts about your researching the Willem Barentsz and the Russian connection. By chance I came across Andrea Pitzer’s book Icebound and then see your post recommending her book. This will definitely be an addition to my small library.
 
We wish you and Anna a very Happy Chinese New Year Heinrich.

Again a fascinating research result you are giving us Heinrich, and you are saying that the Russians think they know the name of the ship of Willem Barentsz??
Is there going to be a third build of the Willem Barentsz vessel my friend??
 
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