In song-famed Donegal,
An islet stands in a lonely lake,
(A coffin in a pall)..."]]> ]]>
Coenensz made nearly every page into a miniature work of art by framing his texts and illustrations by borders, edges and cartouches painted in water colour. He must have realised the special value of his book, as appears from the minutes of the court sessions in Leiden from 1583. They contain a note indicating that Coenensz asked permission for his book and his collection of dried fish ‘to be shown on the coming free annual fair and the festival of the relief of the city [3 October], receiving from every person five cents and from those wanting to see the book twenty-five’. So looking at his book was five times as much as marvelling at his dried fish. Coenensz certainly cashed in on his knowledge. On the reverse of folium 11 he even promoted it:

'Whoever reads or studies it
May spread the word to Another
that he may see and hear'.

One of the marvels of the sea that the inhabitants of Leiden could admire in the book was ‘The true Portrait and size of this whale that has been captured on the ij of July AD m.d.lxxvij’, painted in water colour over two pages. Coenensz had drawn this whale after an engraving that had appeared in the same year (1577). Drawing and caption record an event that would also be considered newsworthy in our own time: a whale cast ashore. The whale depicted here landed in shallow waters, the Scheldt near Doel above Antwerp, and attracted a lot of attention. A few years later Coenensz made a second book, based on this manuscript, the whale manuscript, which is now in Antwerp; a third, also with drawings of whales, is part of a collection in Cologne.]]> 54.6083, -7.8714]]>
Authorship of this portolan is confirmed by the inscription at the neck: Gratiosus Benincasa Anconitanus Composuit Ancone anno domini mcccclxx. Die viii Octubrie. Benincasa was one of the most active 15th century Italian chart makers. The Bay of Cardigan is not shown on this map, the Welsh coast and that of northern England is a smooth curve, dating this chart to pre 1550. Scotland is an island, the knot tying England and Scotland is typical of Benincasa, who reproduced the standard nautical chart with this new feature. Ireland is shown with the fabled land mark, the Purgatory of St Patrick, an inland loch with many islands. The text records that there are 368 islands. A dark red circle to the left of Ireland is marked “Brazill”, known to exist due to classical legend, the location and form however are obviously as yet unknown. [Anthilia] is marked under the skin of the neck. This chart is interesting in that it shows the expansion of Portuguese knowledge of the coast of Africa. Spain and Portugal were hunting for the New World. The east coast of England is the most accurate area of Britain depicted on this chart. Crosses around the coast indicate rocks, a peril to ships. London is marked in red and the Thames is indicated.]]>