A vivid account of the exoticism of the Dutch Republic at a critical moment in its cultural and political historyThe seventeenth century witnessed a great flourishing of Dutch trade and culture. Over the course of the first half of the century, the northern Netherlands secured independence from the Spanish crown, and the nascent republic sought "The special, indeed exceptional, value of this excellent book, a work that took many years to complete, lies in the precious role it plays as a bridge between the Dutch art world of the early seventeenth century and the far better-documented processes of commerce, the expansionist policy of the East India Company in the Far East, and the diplomatic world of the day."---Jonathan I. Israel, Journal of Modern History