Tabula Indiae Orientalis.

Early issue of De Wit’s engraved map of the East Indies in full period original hand colouring, showing the Dutch discoveries on the Australian north east coast.

This is the first of three maps of the East Indies that de Wit produced and published before he was granted privilege in 1689, after that his maps are marked with the annotation ‘cum privilegio’.

De Wit was an apprentice of Willem Blaeu, Frederick de Wit founded his own printing house in Amsterdam in 1648 and after the decline of the Blaeu and Jansson firms, became one of the most successful map publishers in the Netherlands. This map was engraved by Joannes L’hilier and extends from Persia to northern Australia including the Philippine archipelago, Borneo (Celebes) and Taiwan (Formosa). Northern Australia is shown with the following names given by Abel Tasman on his second voyage in 1644: ‘Van Diemens Landt’, ‘Baya van Diemen’ and ‘Vuyle hoeck’. The map is embellished with a superb decorative title cartouche surrounded by four oriental figures and a compass rose. The overall understated effect is typical of de Wit’s stylish maps.

From: de Wit,  Atlas