Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam… RARE map by Janssonius, 1633, Indiae Orientalis Nova Descriptio.

Image 39x50cm, sheet 48x50cm
Folio sized copper engraved map in original coloring of South East Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and part of China) and (the first printed map of) part of Australia by J. Janssonius, published in 1633 in Amsterdam in ´L' Appendice / De L' Atlas / De Gerard Mercator et / Iudocus Hondius: / Contenant diverses nouvelles / tables et descriptions tres amples / de l' Allemaigne, France, Pays-Bas, / Italie, et de l'un et l'autre lnde, / tout mis en son ordre. / Traduit du Latin en Francois / et mis en lumiere / Par / Henry Hondius. / A / Amsterdam / chez Henry Hondius, / demeurant sur le Dam, a / l'enseigne du Chien vigilant. / A D. 1633.

This is a famous map as it is the first printed map to present Willem Janszoon's 1606 contact with Australia. It also represents a milestone in the mapping of the Philippines, containing a markedly more precise depiction of the archipelago than any prior printed map. A Closer Look The map reaches from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the Marianas ( Insulae de Ladrones ) and from southern China south beyond Java and Timor, thus embracing modern-day Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as providing a glimpse of the first documented European contact with Australia at York Peninsula. The map is a classic of Dutch decorative cartography, sporting ships, a sea monster, fine compass roses, and elegant cartouches. The scale cartouche is flanked by a merman and a mermaid, and the title cartouche features indigenous warriors. First Dutch Glimpses of Australia The southeastern quarter of the map is rich in new exploration. An elongated north coastline appears for New Guinea: this, and the islands north of it, derive from the ill-fated voyage of Le Maire and Schouten, as transmitted by Joris Spilbergen (1568 - 1620). To the south, the islands spanning from Java Maior and Bali eastwards appear in greater detail than on any earlier printed work. Lombok and the Lesser Sunda Islands have only their north coasts charted, suggesting reports from an unknown voyage touching those coastlines. Following these islands eastwards, the chain turns upwards to the southern coastline of an island not appearing on earlier printed works at all: Duyfkens Eylant , whose blank northern coasts face the blank southern coasts of t' Landt vande Papuos , or New Guinea. Even further east appear more incomplete coastlines, with the placenames Modder Eylandt and Tyuri . These latter details are derived from Willem Janszoon's 1606 voyage on the pinnace Duyfken . Janszoon's Duyfkens Eylant proved to be southwestern New Guinea, and he supposed that the coastline of Modder Eylandt might connect. That discovery would prove momentous: this was not part of New Guinea but was instead the western coast of Australia's Cape York Peninsula. While Janszoon's report spurred further exploration, it was not committed to any prior printed map. His 1606 discoveries were not publicized at the time, nor were they coherently synthesized with other East India discoveries. His journal and chart were lost, although reports of these discoveries would spread, being mentioned in Dutch documents as early as 1618. The earliest appearance of this cartography is on the 1622 Hessel Gerritsz manuscript map Mar del Sur , produced when Gerritsz was the Official Hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Scrutiny of that work reveals it to be the clear precursor to Jansson's map from Borneo eastwards. A Landmark in the Mapping of the Philippines Jansson's map also benefits from Gerritsz in its sophisticated depiction of the Philippine Archipelago, appearing in print here for the first time. In the first part of the 17th century, European printed maps of the Philippines were overwhelmingly derived from Jan van Linschoten. Even the 1619 De Bry map - produced to accompany Joris van Spilbergen's account of his circumnavigation - did not materially improve Philippine geography. This was likely the result of protections the VOC maintained until 1619, strictly controlling the dissemination of new information relating to their sphere of operation. In that context, the depiction of the Philippines found on the present map appears out of nowhere. Gerritsz's geography does, however, reintroduce an error that had appeared fleetingly on some earlier maps: the phantom island of St. Juan, on the northeast coast of Mindanao. It appeared first on Ortelius' 1570 map of Asia.

Good-very good condition. Some even age browning. Original coloring. The green lines are oxidized at some points (reinforced from behind) as usual with the maps that are originally colored with green colors containing copper oxide. Ample margins. Some tape rests on the back of previous framing. A very nice copy. Clear print. Reverse side text in French.