1707 J. B. Homann Asia (First Plate)

This is Johan Baptist Homann's first map of Asia, in a bold, attractively-colored example of its 1707 first plate. It presents the state of the art of mapping the eastern extreme of the Asian continent, working to reconcile the geography of Nicolas Witsen with De Vries and other explorers of the Pacific. It incorporates the Dutch discoveries in Australia and the East Indies, as well as Dampier's explorations as recently as 1700. Its elaborate allegorical cartouches are executed with the skill and beauty associated with the earliest iterations of Homann's maps.

A Closer Look

The map presents Asia broadly: its western limits include part of Germany and a glimpse of Italy; the course of the lower Danube is shown, and Scandinavia appears in detail. The Russian Empire is described as European and reaches as far south as the Danube, the Black Sea coast, and the River Don. The eastern extents of the Russian Empire, from the Ob to the Witsen Peninsula and the Pacific Coast, are presented distinctly from the rest of the Empire. Part of Africa (mainly the Nile River valley) appears. The Turkish Empire is shown with occupied areas in the Balkans and Greece. Arabia is distinguished, as are the Persian Empire, Tartaria, the Mogul Empire in India, and China (both inside and outside the Wall). The East Indies, Japan, and Australia are shown with up-to-date detail. Dampier's passage north of Carpenteria and claims of New Britain in 1700 are noted. Arnhem's Land and Vay van Diemen are named on the north coast of Australia.

A State-Of-The-Art Siberia

The whole of the Asian Northeast - everything extending north and east from the Caspian Sea - is here derived from the 1687 map of Nicolaes Witsen, the first European with access to Russian sources for these remote regions. Perhaps the paucity of data Witsen provides for the Pacific Coast south of the 50th parallel encourages the broad speculation on the present map. Witsen's book Noord en Oost Tartarye (North and East Tartary) was the century's most authoritative work on those regions.

Japan, Korea, and the Company Islands

South of Witsen's contributions, Homann joins the rest of the cartographic establishment in trying to reconcile the newest Dutch maps with established models for the mapping of Japan and the islands to its north. Homann presents a peninsular Korea. The coastline north of the peninsula is shown indistinctly between 40 and 55 degrees north, with the accompanying note that 'the coastline of Chinese Tartary is unknown.' The maps of the late 17th century typically connected to this part of Asia a large, peninsular Terra de Yesso or Yedso, which was thought to include an island north of the Japanese mainland now known to be Hokkaido. The present map is remarkable because it separates Yedso from the mainland and connects it to Japan, eliminating the Tsugaru Strait. Yedso continues to reflect the Dutch formulation of the southern coast of Terra de Yesso, Staten Island (Kunashir), and Compagnies Land (Iturup). The Strait of De Vries is named.

Allegorical Engraving

Both cartouches, in the upper right and lower left, exemplify Homann's finest baroque decoration. The theme of the decoration is in keeping with Homann's address to the reader, contained in the upper right cartouche:

...Asia is swelling with different empires, which are mainly Mohammedan, or even spreading from the evil errors of the heathen... in China alone and other small islands of the Indies, the triumphant glory of the Cross of Christ, the present map itself will teach more.

The decorations of the cartouches depict the idolatry that Christian Europeans expected to find in the East: the upper right shows a procession, with pipes and gongs, bearing a multi-armed, demonic idol before them.

In the lower left, an array of exotically-clad potentates prostrate themselves before an Eastern Emperor - likely meant to be the Mogul emperor, symbolized by the lion at the foot of his podium. In the background above this scene, two putti flutter about brandishing idols while a third - grasping the nearest by the hair - points to a radiant Christogram in the clouds. Meanwhile, the right-hand background of the cartouche features a different theme: merchants haggling over goods on a wharf. Clearly, there were more than souls to be won in conquering the East.

Publication History and Census

This is the first plate of this map, engraved for Johann Baptist Homann for inclusion in his planned atlas Neuer Atlas. This first version, engraved as early as 1702, remained in the Homann atlas until at least 1710. In 1716, a completely re-engraved second plate began to appear. It is easily identifiable by the elimination of decorative texture on the steps leading to the potentate's throne in the lower left cartouche, but we observe no changes in the geography of these two plates. In about 1726, Homann's son Johann Christian produced a third plate, (with the transposed title Recentissima Asiae Delineatio) lacking the decorative cartouche in the upper right but significantly revising the Asian coastline to reflect knowledge of Kamchatka. The present example is from a 1710 edition of the Neuer Atlas. In its many editions, the map is well represented in institutional collections, and versions of the map appear on the market. However, there is no complete census of individual states and plates, so the dating of these pieces is difficult to determine without examination of the maps themselves.