Biography
Hendrik Hamel (1630-1692), a supercargo with the VOC from Gorinchem (Gorkum) in South Holland, was shipwrecked with his crew on 16 August 1653 on the island of Quelpaert (Jeju). He spent thirteen years captive in Korea, becoming the first European to describe the Joseon kingdom from the inside. Back in The Hague in 1668, he wrote the Journael that bears his name. A unique document on seventeenth-century Korea, this text was published as early as 1668 before sinking under the interpolations of Amsterdam booksellers; it was not until Bruno Hoetink's critical edition (1920) that a reliable text was restored.
