Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) wrote the text of IPC between september 1604 and november 1606 at the request of the directors of the Dutch East India Company, the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), who (apparently) foresaw the need for a further defence of the taking of the Portuguese vessel Santa Catarina in the Strait of Malacca by their captain Jacob van Heemskerk in February 1603. The Admiralty of Amsterdam had declared the ship legitimate booty in september 1604, just prior to the VOC directors' request to Grotius to write a defence. The exact intentions and intended audience of IPC are not known, although various hypotheses have been put forward (see lit. in reff. below).
Judging by its appearance, the manuscript BPL 917 seems originally to have been a 'fair copy' intended for example for circulation among persons involved with the issue at stake, or for a typesetter to print the work from. However, the work remained unpublished after completion. Grotius subsequently made many changes in the text, which are written in the manuscript in the form of deleted text, and words and passages added in margins or between lines. It seems likely that this process continued for many years. However one part of IPC was actually published: chapter 12 appeared separately as De Mari Libero ('The Free Sea', also known as Mare Liberum) in 1609. For the preparation of this book, the quire containing chapter 12 was physically taken out of the manuscript and reworked for publication separately. When this work was done (and perhaps a new fair copy was made and sent to the printer), chapter 12 was re-united with the manuscript. The publication date of Mare Liberum enables a fairly precise dating of this intervention (see Van Ittersum, 'Preparing Mare Liberum' below).
The manuscript remained among Grotius' working papers, and appears to have been consulted frequently (and possibly changed further) during the composition of De Iure Belli ac Pacis (published in 1625). It must have been preserved among the author's papers after his death and passed down by his descendants. It re-emerged in 1864. In this year it was sold at an auction by Nijhoff in The Hague together with many other inherited papers and bought by Leiden University Library (at the initiative of the historian Robert Fruin). A printed edition, edited by Gerard Hamaker, appeared in 1868.
Hamaker's edition of 1868 contains only the final version of the text as it appears from the manuscript. This choice derives a justification from he fact that indeed one final version of the text can be reconstructed from Grotius' markings. This may be seen as an indication that Grotius kept the option of publishing IPC open as long as he kept making changes in the manuscript, and that this is the text he wanted that edition to present. However, to modern standards Hamaker's edition is insufficient in that it provides no access to the earlier stages of the text, nor even indications of where changes were made. Moreover it presents the unauthorised manuscript text as if it is a finished and authorised work, and it has adapted spelling and punctuation to 19th-century practices which are no longer fully accepted and may affect the interpretation of Grotius' text, or hamper the reconstruction of his actual sources (see Waszink, 'Using the work', below). Hamaker's edition was the basis of the translations of IPC published so far (notably that by Gladys Williams, see ref. below). Williams' translation appeared in combination with an excellent, large facsimile of BPL 917 which allowed easy access to the manuscript in conjunction with her translation of the final stage of the text. In the notes Williams discusses differences with the original version of the text at several places.
The present edition contains all changes (deletions, additions) contained in the manuscript. Its aim is thus to provide access to the full history of the text. Moreover, this edition provides the possibility for the first time since 1606 to easily read the original version of the text. By clicking on the “▸” marks in the text, the alternative readings can be opened or closed, or the reader can choose between the 'original' and 'final' version of the text. This online edition provides the option to read the original or the final version even without the “▸” signs. Photographs of the manuscript are provided for consultation of the actual source and characteristics of it which are not easily recorded in an edition (such as variations in ink colour). Spelling and punctuation are restored to that of the manuscript, and the (minor) mistakes in the 1868 edition are corrected. This edition project is not finished and the work continues. At this stage (september 2018), the apparatus criticus is not yet completed, as are the literature references in the margins.
H. Grotius, De Jure Praedae Commentarius, ed. H. G. Hamaker, The Hague (Nijhoff) 1868
H. Grotius, Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty, ed. by Gwlady L. Williams and W.H. Zeydel. Vol. 1: A Translation of the original Manuscript of 1604 by G.L. Williams; vol. II, The Collotype reproduction. The Classics of International Law, no. 22, Oxford (Clarendon Press), 1950 New edition: Hugo Grotius, Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty, ed. M.J. van Ittersum, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis 2006. Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics; Contains several important addenda and indices
Hugo Grotius Mare liberum : 1609-2009, edd. R. Feenstra en J. Vervliet, Leiden (Brill) 2009
Hugo de Groot; de vrije zee / Mare Liberum; een uiteenzetting over het recht van de Nederlanders om handel te drijven in Oost-Indië, Dutch translation and extensive introduction by A. Eyffinger, The Hague (Jongbloed) 2009
H.W. Blom (ed.) Property, Piracy and Punishment : Hugo Grotius on War and Booty in De Iure Praedae: Concepts and Contexts, Brill 2009 (see also Grotiana, 2007, Vol. 26(1) )
Van Itterseum, M., Profit and principe: Hugo Grotius, natural rights theories and the rise of Dutch power in the East Indies, 1595-1615, Leiden (Brill), 2006
Van Ittersum, M. 'Dating the manuscript of De Jure Praedae (1604–1608): What watermarks, foliation and quire divisions can tell us about Hugo Grotius’ development as a natural rights and natural law theorist' History of European Ideas, Vol. 35-2 (2009), p.125-193
Van Ittersum, M. 'Preparing Mare liberum for the Press: Hugo Grotius' Rewriting of Chapter 12 of De iure praedae in November-December 1608' in: Grotiana, 2007, Vol. 26(1), pp. 246-280
Wasink, J. 'Using the Work. Remarks on the Text of De iure praedae' in: Grotiana, 2007, Vol.26(1), pp. 215-245
Fruin, R., 'An Unpublished Work of Hugo Grotius's', in: Bibliotheca Visseriana, part 5 Leiden (Brill) 1925 p. 1-74
Molhuysen-Oppenheym, E. 'Appendix to Fruin's article' in: In B ibliotheca Visseriana, part 5 Leiden (Brill) 1925 p. 75-100