Acquired From: Leen Helmink
Colouring: Uncoloured
Condition: Excellent
Confirmed: Yes
Date Acquired: 17/09/2022
Dealers ID No.: 19115
Description: In 1649 Claes Jansz. Visscher reissued and expanded the work of Barent Langeness 1598 Caert-Thresoor (View Record (#285), View Record (#294), View Record (#295), View Record (#296), View Record (#383), View Record (#388)) as Tabularum geographicarum contractarum libri quatuor denuo recogniti, a compact atlas divided into four parts: Europae, Asiae (titlepage, View Record (#10)), Africae, and Americae nova descriptio. Alongside the inherited Langenes material, Visscher added twenty-three newly engraved maps including plates relating to recent Dutch discoveries in Australia and the East Indies (#11, View Record (#12), View Record (#371), View Record (#388)). The atlas also incorporated revised versions of the earlier Hondius world maps View Record (#292), View Record (#293), and two maps by Benjamin Wright (this map and View Record (#369))nThis engraving depicts the fortified settlement of Arosbaya (Civitas Madura dicta Arosbaya) on the island of Madura, off the north coast of Java. It was engraved by Benjamin Wright around 1601, shortly after the return of the second Dutch voyage to the East Indies (15981600), led by Jacob van Neck with Wybrand van Warwijck as vice-admiral. Although produced in connection with the publication of the voyage account (for the 1609 French title page see View Record (#380)), the plate does not appear in surviving copies of the journals issued in 1601 and is first recorded in Visschers 1649 atlas.nAlthough engraved in 1601 in connection with the publication of the account of the second Dutch voyage (for the 1609 French title page see View Record (#380)), the plate does not appear in surviving copies of the journals printed that year. It is first found in Visschers 1649 atlas.nUnlike the TernateTidore plate (View Record (#369)), which is primarily coastal and navigational, this image functions as a prospect view combining topography and narrative. The walled city dominates the upper portion of the composition, rendered schematically with continuous defensive walls and densely arranged buildings, emphasising both fortification and urban concentration. The inscription Hic est insula ubi detinebatur captivus (Here is the place where the captive was held) refers to the detention of a local ruler, situating the scene within a specific episode of early Dutch engagement in the region.nIn the foreground, Dutch ships lie anchored offshore, with longboats moving between ship and shore. Small figures are shown loading or unloading goods, reinforcing the commercial focus of the image. The labels Statio (guard station) and Repagulum portus (harbour barrier or defensive works) identify key military positions along the waterfront. Together, these elements indicate that the plate records not merely a town view but a site of strategic and logistical importance during the early phase of Dutch expansion along the north coast of Java.
Engraver: Wright, Benjamin (1575-1613)
First published: Tabularum geographicarum contractarum libri quatuor denuo recogniti, Amsterdam: Claes Jansz. Visscher, 1649
Image Size (cm): 8.5×12.5
Mapmaker: Wright, Benjamin (1575-1613)
Notes: Purchased with entries #369, #371
Price: 1750
Primary Category: Southeast Asia
Purchase Reference: Ledger 2022
Rarity: R1 Extremely rare – occasionally seen on the market
References: Peter van der Krogt, ed., Koemans Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. 3 (t Goy-Houten: HES & De Graaf, 1997), map 8150:341:54nGünter Schilder, Monumenta cartographica Neerlandica, vol. 7 (Canaletto, 2003), 484-488
Sheet size (cm): 14.5×18.2
Technique: Copper Engraving
This state: First
Website: Click here
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