Tabula Indiae orientalis.

The first of three maps of the East Indies that de Wit produced and published around 1679 before he was granted privilege in 1689 after which all his maps were marked with the annotation &#8216cum privilegio&#8217. 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 Lhilier 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: &#8216Van Diemens Landt&#8217, &#8216Baya van Diemen&#8217 and &#8216Vuyle hoeck&#8217. 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&#8217s stylish maps. From de Wit&#8217s world atlas Atlas sive description Terrarum Orbis. References: Parry p.115-119, ill.pl.4.28, Quirino p.109.