『The Journal of Hendrick Hamel』is a record, that describes the fate of Hendrick Hamel and his 36 mates shipwrecked in Joseon, escaping to Japan in1666, arriving in the VOC branch in Nagasaki, Japan, and leaving for their country with eight survivors including Hamel.

『The Journal of Hendrick Hamel』is a record, that describes the fate of Hendrick Hamel and his 36 mates shipwrecked in Joseon, escaping to Japan in1666, arriving in the VOC branch in Nagasaki, Japan, and leaving for their country with eight survivors including Hamel.
It was written by Hendrick Hamel, who was a bookkeeper of the Sperwer that got shipwrecked in Jeju. He described his 13-year experience in Joseon and wrote a great deal of information about the place.

The Journal of Hendrick Hamel describes Joseon in many aspects such as politics, economy, foreign policies, society, and culture. The Journal's historical value is very precious and beyond measure.

To date, this record has been called 『The Record of Hamel's Shipwreck』in Korea and 『The Record of Hamel's Confinement』in Japan. However, since Lee Byeong-do translated it into 『The Record of Hamel's Shipwreck』to serialize in 『Jindanhakbo』in 1934, this title has been commonly used.

In Japan, Ikuta Sigeru(生田滋) first used this record, called 『The Record of Hamel's Confinement』in 1961.
Also, Jean Paul Weise used the name of 『The Journal of Hamel』in 1994. In reality, foreign books have been titled in many different ways depending on the translators' subjective views. However, considering a title of Hamel's record and its significance, it was of great importance as an official record when it was submitted to the government-general in Batavia and the councilors in VOC. For this reason, a research on Hamel has aroused the academic world's new interest in the history of international relations in East Asia as well as in Joseon-Dutch relations.

Another reason to heed 『The Journal of Hamel』is that, the record was an important evidence for Hamel and his mates to claim payment from VOC of their unpaid wages during their long stay in Joseon. At the same time, this record witnessed that Hamel did his job satisfactorily as a member of VOC. It also reported the difficult situation that they went through in Joseon.

The record describes the 13-year journey and events during Hamel and his mate's stay in Joseon in details including time as well as dates, suggesting his efforts to keep an accurate account or record of their situation in Joseon.

In this way,『The Journal of Hendrick Hamel』was published in Amsterdam in 1668. It was translated in French, German, and English versions that spread throughout Europe