Acquired From: Gowrie Galleries
Colouring: Uncoloured
Condition: Excellent
Confirmed: No
Dealers ID No.: M871/1 (STK 1667.01)
Description: This map, titled in English New Map of the Islands of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and Others up to Malacca, Drawn in Java, Where Reefs, Shoals, and Intervening Rocks Are Shown from Life, was published by Theodor de Bry in 1599 as part of Volume 2 of his India Orientalis, a major series chronicling early European encounters with Asia and Africa. It presents a reduced and re-engraved version of a detailed navigational chart originally prepared by Willem Lodewijcksz., a participant in the first Dutch voyage to the East Indies (15951597) led by Cornelis de Houtman.nLodewijcksz.s journal, Historie van Indien, was published in April 1598 by Cornelis Claesz., but a map showing the Java Seaintended to accompany the textwas withheld at the insistence of Amsterdam merchants who had financed the voyage. Claesz. circumvented their objections by releasing the chart as a separate unbound sheet lter that year (View Record (#73)). Spanning the region from the Nicobar Islands in the northwest to Sumbawa in the southeast, the original map includes key maritime regions, including the Strait of Malacca, northern Java, southern Borneo, and the treacherous Java Sea route to the Spice Islandshighlighting reefs, shoals, and underwater hazards with striking precision.nRecognising the significance of Lodewijcksz.'s suppressed map and operating beyond the influence of Amsterdams mercantile interests Theodor de Bry re-engraved this reduced version for inclusion in the German edition of Volume 2 of India Orientalis. The map was also included in the Latin editions of Part 2 published in 1599 (see also #104 and later editions in 1628). In the process of copying the map, however, a cartographic error crept in. As noted by historian Thomas Suárez, de Brys version deviates from the original by approximately one degree, displacing the northern coasts of Java and Bali further north than in Lodewijcksz.s accurate survey. nAlthough much of the original content was preservedincluding four Dutch ships representing de Houtmans fleetde Bry made key editorial changes. He removed six illustrative vignettes from the upper right corner and replaced them with a bilingual title in Latin and Dutch, consistent with his aim to reframe Dutch source material for a continental audience.nThis map exemplifies the circulation, adaptation, and politicisation of geographic knowledge during the early stages of Dutch expansion in Southeast Asia. Together with related charts (#69, #73, and #104), it offers rare insight into the contested interplay between exploration, commercial secrecy, and cartographic publication at the turn of the seventeenth century.
Engraver: De Bry, Theodor (1528-1598)
First published: India Orientalis. Part 2, Frankfurt: Theodor de Bry, 1599
Mapmaker: De Bry, Theodor (1528-1598)
Notes: Purchase details
Primary Category: Southeast Asia
Purchase Reference: Insurance Ledger 2022
Rarity: R2 Very rare – one or two copies appear on the market
References: Günter Schilder, Monumenta cartographica Neerlandica, vol. 7 (Alphen aan den Rijn: Canaletto, 2003), 269 and Ill. 11.61. nThomas Suárez, Early Mapping of Southeast Asia: The Epic Story of Seafarers, Adventurers, and Cartographers Who First Mapped the Regions Between China and India, 18081.
Technique: Copper Engraving
This state: 1599
Website: Click here
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