Nova totius terrarum orbis tabula

Acquired From: Gowrie Galleries

Colouring: Coloured

Condition: Fair

Confirmed: Yes

Date Acquired: 12/6/2009

Dealers ID No.: M911 (STK 1793.01)

Description: Frederik de Wit began his career as an apprentice to Willem Blaeu before establishing his own publishing house in Amsterdam in 1648 under the sign De Drie Crabben (the Three Crabs). In 1655, he renamed his shop Witte Pascaert (the White Chart), from which he issued a wide range of cartographic works, including single-sheet maps, wall maps, atlases, and sea charts. Renowned for their refined engraving and vivid hand-colouring, De Wits productions rank among the most admired of seventeenth-century Dutch cartography.nHis major publications include Atlas Belgium (1667), Atlas (c. 1670), Atlas Minor (1670), Zee Atlas (1675), Orbis Maritimus ofte Zee Atlas (1675), and Atlas Major (1690s).nThis is Frederik de Wit's first world map, engraved for Hendrick Doncker's De Zee-Atlas ofte Water-Waereld, first published in Amsterdam in 1660. Although De Wit would later become one of the most prominent Amsterdam mapmakers of the Dutch Golden Age, this map marks his early entry into world cartography. It is also one of the very few maps to which De Wit added a printed date, visible just to the bottom right of the centrefold.nThe design is adapted from Joan Blaeus monumental 1648 double-hemisphere wall map, though reduced in scale and selectively revised. Dutch exploration is prominently represented: the coastline of Hollandia Nova (Australia) reflects discoveries made by Abel Tasman and earlier Dutch navigators, although the southern and eastern shores remain conjectural. Only the western coastline of New Zealand is shown, based on Tasman's 164243 voyage. nThe maps elaborate iconography integrates astronomy and allegory. Celestial charts of the northern and southern hemispheres occupy the upper corners, while polar projections appear below. At the base, diagrams contrast the Ptolemaic geocentric model with Copernicuss heliocentric theory, crowned by the sun encircled by the zodiac. Allegories of the four classical elementsAir, Earth, Fire, and Watercomplete the decorative program. Although later reissued under De Wits own name, the map originated within the practical context of Donckers sea atlas, illustrating the collaborative nature of Amsterdam cartographic publishing.

Engraver: Wit, Frederick de (1630-1706)

First published: De zee-atlas ofte water-waereld Amsterdam: Hendrick Doncker, 1660

Mapmaker: Wit, Frederick de (1630-1706)

Price: A26,000 plus gst

Primary Category: World

Purchase Reference: Inv. 4063

Rarity: R1 Extremely rare – occasionally seen on the market

Shirley ID #: 421 Mapping of the World

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: 1660

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