Colouring: Uncoloured
Condition: Excellent
Confirmed: No
Description: This detailed chart presents the eastern East Indies, covering the islands of Celebes (Sulawesi), Timor, Seram, Banda, Amboina, and surrounding archipelagos. It appears in Robert Dudleys DellArcano del Mare (Secrets of the Sea), first published in Florence between 1646 and 1647, and reissued in a revised, two-volume edition in 1661 under the shortened title Arcano del Mare. The chart is engraved by Antonio Francesco Lucini, though it lacks the L. pagination used in many of the 1661 plates.nThis regionoften referred to as the Spice Islandswas a critical theatre of European maritime rivalry during the seventeenth century. Dudleys chart reflects his use of Dutch and Iberian sources, offering intricate coastal outlines and toponyms essential to navigation and trade. The inclusion of lesser-known islands such as Buton, Batu Liar, and Gilioli (likely Gilolo/Halmahera) suggests access to contemporary Dutch hydrographic material, possibly through VOC sources.nThe chart is grouped with a suite of detailed sea charts that appear in Book VI, covering the East Indies and the Pacific. These include View Record (#172), charting Australias western and northern coastlines; View Record (#222), a general chart of Asia; View Record (#223), a depiction of the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java; View Record (#274), showing islands in the South Sea discovered in 1617; View Record (#275), a speculative chart of eastern Hokkaido and the adjacent strait with America; and View Record (#276), tracing the Pacific from the Solomon Islands to the coast of Lima in Peru.
Engraver: Lucini, Antonio Francesco
First published: Dell' Arcano del mare Florence: Francesco Onofri, 1646-47
Image Size (cm): 38×46
Mapmaker: Dudley, Robert (1574-1649)
Notes: Purchase details
Primary Category: Southeast Asia
Rarity: R2 Very rare – one or two copies appear on the market
References: On the East Indies maps see, David Parry, The Cartography of the East Indian Islands: Insulae Indiae Orientalis (London: Countrywide Editions, 2005), 13749, 145 pl. 5.15.
Sheet size (cm): 40×53
Technique: Copper Engraving
This state: 1647 ?
Laisser un commentaire