Moluccae Insulae.

Scare early miniature map of the fabled Spice Islands from Petrus Bertius (1565-1629) ‘Tabularum Geographicarum Contractarum Libri Septem’, published by Jodocus Hondius. Bertius was Hondius’s brother in-law. This miniature map was made fourteen years after the formation of the VOC (Dutch East India Company). The information for this map was based on the most important and influential map issued to show in detail the fabled Spice Islands as only known to the Portuguese at the time which was drawn and engraved by the leading Dutch mapmaker of the period, Petrus Plancius. Fleeing persecution in 1585 by the Spanish Inquisition in Belgium, Plancius established himself in Amsterdam where he was soon recognised for his expertise in cartography and navigation. The sources for his map were twenty-five or so Portuguese sea charts and related rutters by Bartolomeu Lasso, Cosmographer to the King of Spain, which had been obtained in Lisbon by the Dutch in 1592. The chart was issued separately by Plancius in 1594 and only sold as a loose sheet. Following Plancius’s publication of his map another young Dutchman, Jan Huygen van Linschoten published the first detailed account of his travels in 1595 Reysgeschrift van der Navigatien der Portugaloysers in Orienten in which he provided the detailed sailing instructions to reach the Spice Islands. Within a year of Linschoten revealing the navigational information to locate the Spice Islands, Frederick de Houtman led the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. One of the most crucial pieces of advice that Linschoten provided was his recommendation to use the navigational route through the Sunda Strait. This allowed Dutch ships to avoid the traditional route to the Indies through the Straits of Malacca where the Portuguese maintained a heavy presence. This key piece of information opened the flood gates to competing Dutch merchant ships and relatively swiftly led to the demise of Portuguese control over the East Indian spice trade. In the five years succeeding Houtman&#8217s voyage, some sixty heavily-armed Dutch ships made their way to the Spice Islands. Before long, the thirst for the potential wealth that could be gained there led to infighting among Dutch merchants. In order to resolve the situation, the competing companies were amalgamated to form the Dutch East India Company (VOC) which was granted a charter by the States-General in 1602 for a period of twenty-one years, effectively giving it a monopoly of the lucrative trade. The explosive information contained in both Linschoten&#8217s Itinerario and this map directly led to the creation of both the VOC and its future rival, the English East India Company, founded in 1600. Together the companies would dominate the international spice trade for the next 300 years. References: Howgego D131, Kissajukian p.16, ill.p16 &amp back cover, Linschoten pp.158-227, Perry p.6, ill.6-7, Quirino p.99, Schilder (K) p.14, ill. 1.2 (1617 edition), Suarez (A) p.177, ill. Front cover, fig. 90 pp.174-175. From Petrus Bertius (1565-1629) ‘Tabularum Geographicarum Contractarum Libri Septem’, published by Jodocus Hondius. Bertius was Hondius’s brother in-law.