India Orientalis

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Uncoloured

Condition: Very Good

Confirmed: No

Date Acquired: 1/1/2023

Dealers ID No.: 18074

Description: Cornelius Wytfliet, a geographer from Louvain, earned a Licentiate in Laws from the University of Louvain before moving to Brussels, where he served as secretary to the Council of Brabant. His Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum (Augmentation to Ptolemy's Description), first published in 1597, the year of his death, by Johannes Bogardus.nThat year, two distinct versions of the work were issued: one consisting of 51 leaves and another, expanded edition with over 100 leaves. The longer edition was republished in Louvain in 1598 by Gerardus Rivius. Both versions were subsequently reissued in Douai in 1603 by Franciscus Fabri. In 1605, the work was translated into French and integrated with Giovanni Antonio Maginis Histoire universelle des Indes occidentales et orientales, et de la conversion des Indiens, which described the West and East Indies and Japan. Additional French editions appeared in 1607 and 1611.nThe 1605 edition includes this map of the East Indies, one of four small maps featured on a single double-page sheet (link). The accompanying three maps depict Japan, China, and the Philippines.

Engraver: van Doetecum II, Johannes

First published: Magini, Giovanni Antonio Histoire universelle des Indes occidentales et orientales, et de la conversion des Indiens Douay: François Fabri, 1605

Image Size (cm): 12.5×9.2

Mapmaker: Wytfliet, Cornelius (d. 1597)

Notes: Purchased with #388

Price: 625

Primary Category: Southeast Asia

Rarity: R1 Extremely rare – occasionally seen on the market

References: Donald Gallup, The First Separately Published Atlas Entirely Devoted to the Americas: Wytfliets Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum, The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 76, no. 1 (March 1982): 6373,

Sheet size (cm): 19.5×14

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: 1605

Website: Click here