There have been made a lot of versions of the illustration of the ‘Murderer’s Bay’. But which one is closest to the original? As far as is known, all the drawings that were made on board have been lost. This makes each version a copy and the truth hard to reveal. Er zijn vele varianten gemaakt op de illustratie van de ‘Moordenaarsbaai’. Maar welke komt het dichtst bij het origineel? Voor zover bekend zijn alle tekeningen die aan boord werden gemaakt verloren gegaan. Dit maakt iedere variant tot een kopie en de waarheid moeilijk te achterhalen.
State Archive Copy
(Nationaal Archief Den Haag, 1643)
Blok Fragment
(Nationaal Archief Den Haag, 1643)
Joseph Banks Copy
(British Library, 18th century)
Vaertuig en Gedaente der inwoonders van Selandia Nova
(in: Noord en Oost Tartarijen, deel I – Nicolaes Witsen, 1705)
De Moordenaars Baay
(in: Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën – François Valentijn, 1726)
Baye des Meurtriers / De Moordenaarsbaay
(in: Histoire générale des voyages – Antoine François Prévost d’Exiles, 1758)
View of Murderers Bay on New Zealand in 15 fath m Water
(in: An Account of the Discoveries made in the South Pacific Ocean previous to 1764 – Alexander Dalrymple, 1767)
Thus appears Moordenaars Bay as you are there in 15 fathoms
(in: A Chronological history of the voyages and discoveries in the south sea or pacific ocean – James Burney, 1813)
Canoe and natives – from Tasman’s journal
(in: The New Zealanders – George Lillie Craik, 1830)
Attack on Tasman’s Ships – a fac-simile of the drwaing in his journal
(in: The New Zealanders – George Lillie Craik, 1830)
Tasman’s ships in Massacre Bay
(in: Chapman’s centenary memorial of Captain Cook’s description of New Zealand – Geo. T. Chapman, 1870)
Murder of Tasman’s boat’s crew at Massacre Bay
(in: Early history of New Zealand – R.A.A. Sherrin and J.H. Wallace, 1890)
During the voyage of Tasman different people kept journals and made drawings. The most important artist was Isaac Gilsemans. On return in Batavia all this material was collected and based on this several journals were compiled. The text wasn’t written by Tasman himself, but was dictated and then signed by him. It is also not certain if Isaac Gilsemans made the final drawings himself or if this was (partly) done by others. The fact that the State Archives Copy and the Blok Fragment differ in style and details seems to confirm this. Tijdens de reis van Tasman werden er door verschillende personen journaals bijgehouden en tekeningen en landprofielen gemaakt. De belangrijkste tekenaar was Isaac Gilsemans. Bij terugkomst in Batavia werd al dit materiaal verzameld door Tasman en op basis hiervan werden meerdere ‘definitieve’ journaals gecompileerd. De tekst werd niet door Tasman zelf geschreven, maar door hem gedicteerd en vervolgens ondertekend. Het is ook niet met zekerheid te zeggen of Isaac Gilsemans zelf de definitieve illustraties maakte of dat dit ook (deels) werd uitbesteed. Het feit dat de Nationaal Archief Kopie (de meest bekende versie) en het Blok Fragment stilistisch en in detail verschillen lijkt dit te bevestigen.
Source: R.D.J. Collins: Abel Tasman in New Zealand waters: the pictorial record (in: Bulletin of New Zealand Art History, n.12, 1991). Bron: R.D.J. Collins: Abel Tasman in New Zealand waters: the pictorial record (in: Bulletin of New Zealand Art History, n.12, 1991).
Note. There is no evidence that Gilsemans drew the pictures in the SAJ Tasman journal or any of the other sheets or fragments. Certainly he was instructed to make drawings but, there were four or five senior skilled officers who might have contributed. In any case all the extant drawings are copies of copies – excpt one which without checking I think is in Oz. My view is that the unknown repeat unknown editor or compiler of the SAJ probably was handed dozens of sketches copied or made on the voyage and selected for the SAJ items that he thought suitable. There are references in the SAJ about Gilsemens which in my view indicate that he sketched coastal profiles and some of these probably were copied for the SAJ.