This rare engraved map of maritime Southeast Asiacommonly

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Uncoloured

Condition: Very Good

Confirmed: Yes

Date Acquired: 27/8/2017

Dealers ID No.: #34471 (Ruderman's ID)

Description: This rare engraved map of maritime Southeast Asiacommonly known as Terza Tavola (Third Plate)was published independently in 1565 by Ferdinando Bertelli, a prominent Venetian engraver and map dealer active during the mid-sixteenth century. Though not a cartographer himself, Bertelli played a key role in the commercial dissemination of geographic knowledge, producing finely engraved maps based on recent sources to serve the interests of scholars, merchants, and navigators.nBertellis Terza Tavola is a direct adaptation of a 1554 woodcut map by Giacomo Gastaldi, originally published in the second edition of Volume I of Giovanni Battista Ramusios Navigationi et Viaggian influential compendium documenting early global exploration. Gastaldis map, often called the Ramusio map, was one of the first European attempts to synthesise geographic information about the East Indies and surrounding regions, including the Philippines, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula.nAs with Gastaldis version, the map is oriented with south at the top, a navigational convention that would have been familiar to Mediterranean and Islamic mariners. It spans from Sumatra in the west to the Philippines in the east, encompassing a region of immense commercial and strategic interest, particularly due to the lucrative spice trade.nOne of the maps most significant features is the first known appearance of the name Filipina (Philippines) on a European mapbelieved to have derived from Antonio Pigafettas account of Magellans circumnavigation. This incorporation of recently reported place names highlights the direct impact of voyages of discovery on printed cartography in the sixteenth century.nIn the mainland interior, Bertelli preserves Gastaldis depiction of the mythical Lake of Chiamay (Lago de Chiamay), imagined as the source of four major rivers flowing across mainland Southeast Asia. Though fictitious, the lake would persist in European maps for centuries, illustrating the complex interplay between empirical observation, hearsay, and cartographic imagination.nPrinted as a separate sheet, Terza Tavola reflects the vibrant Venetian print culture of the 1560s. Its engraved format offered greater clarity and durability than Gastaldis earlier woodcut, while maintaining the visual structure and geographic content of the original. The map captures a pivotal moment in early modern cartography, where exploration, print innovation, and commercial demand converged in Venicethen a major hub of global knowledge transmission.

Engraver: Bertelli, Ferando (b. 1525)

First published: Separation publication. Venice: Ferando Bertelli, 1565

Image Size (cm): 40×28

Mapmaker: Bertelli, Ferando (b. 1525)

Price: 14,000

Primary Category: Southeast Asia

Purchase Reference: Email 31 Oct 2017, Email 2/11/2017

Rarity: R1 Extremely rare – occasionally seen on the market

References: Thomas Suárez (1999), Early Mapping of Southeast Asia, pg130

Sheet size (cm): 56.5×42

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: 1565

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