This large and detailed blueback sea chart depicts

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Coloured

Condition: Excellent

Date Acquired: Nov 2025

Dealers ID No.: 19911

Description: This large and detailed blueback sea chart depicts the island of Java and represents the final and most comprehensive nautical chart of the island produced by the Van Keulen publishing house for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Issued as a loose chart for practical use aboard VOC vessels, it was intended for active navigation rather than atlas inclusion.nThe chart is engraved and signed by Jan van Jagen, one of the leading Dutch engravers and cartographers of nautical charts in the mid-eighteenth century. It is densely filled with navigational information, including depth soundings, shoals, reefs, coastal cliffs, safe anchorages, coastal profiles, landmarks, rhumb lines, and compass roses, reflecting the highest standard of late VOC hydrographic practice.nAccording to the Van Keulen Cartography, the chart must have been made between 1757-1779 (Appendix 5, page 188, chart 222). notable feature is the extensive textual legend within the interior of Java, which reads:n"De Zuidkust tusschen de Oost hoek en de hoek van Wynkoopsbergen word by Veele Zeelieden 15 a 20 minuten Noordlyker bevonden."n"The south coast between the East point and the point of Wynkoopsbergen is found by many sailors 15 to 20 minutes further north."nThis chart represents the culmination of Van Keulens cartographic treatment of Java for the VOC. It is both the last and the most detailed sea chart of the island issued by the firm, embodying decades of accumulated navigational experience in one of the most strategically important regions of the Dutch maritime empire.

Engraver: Jan van Jagen

First published: Separate publication. Amsterdam, 1757

Image Size (cm): 89×70

Mapmaker: Keulen II, Johannes van (1704-1755)

Primary Category: Southeast Asia

Rarity: R1 Extremely rare – occasionally seen on the market

Sheet size (cm): 97×77

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: First. Second known copy