1635 / c.1642 Hessel Gerritsz / Willem Blaeu map of the East Indies

This is a sumptuous example of Willem Blaeu's 1635/1642 map of India, Southeast Asia, China, the Philippines, and Japan - including new information on the Philippines and Austraila. It is also among the earliest maps to depict the Philippine archipelago with any degree of precision. The map's cartographic content was engraved (probably in 1630 but as late as 1632) by Hessel Gerritsz, Blaeu's predecessor as official chartmaker for the Dutch East India Company, thus many of its features were previously suppressed, seeing public print first in this Blaeu edition.

A Closer Look

In preparing the plate for publication in his atlases, Blaeu embellished this map with his typical flair. It is beautifully engraved with eight sailing ships, a sea monster, compass roses, and rhumb lines. Its cartouches are dramatically adorned with figures and putti. The map itself, engraved by Gerritsz, 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. In the southeast, the map reveals a state-of-the-art mapping of New Guinea and northern Australia.

Early Glimpses of Australia

This map is among the earliest to depict any part of Australia based on documented discovery. G. F. de Wits Land marks the 1628 site where the Dutch vessel Vianen, under Captain Gerrit Frederikszoon de Witt, ran aground. De Witt went on to chart the northwest coast of Australia about as far as present-day Port Hedland. The map also shows the lands charted in 1605-06 on the western coast of Queensland by Willem Janszoon (no relation to the mapmaker). While the Janszoon information appeared first on the 1630 Jansson map of this region (derived from Gerritsz' 1622 manuscript Mar Del Sur), Gerritsz did not pass the 1628 de Witt information to Jansson, and it did not appear on the 1630 map.

Another key contribution of Gerrtitz was from his 1627 Caert van't Landt van d'Eendracht. This appears at the bottom center, where there is a portion of the coast of Western Australia, along with the place name, 'Willems Revier.' Gerritz reported that this river had been visited by the crew of the Dutch ship Mauritius in July 1618. (The identity of this river is unknown; it may be the Ashburton River.) Further to the west, also drawn from the same source, are a small group of islands marked 'Trial.' These represent one of the earliest appearances on a map of the Tryal Rocks, so named because of the June 1622 shipwreck of the English ship Trial.

The State-of-the-Art Philippines and a Phantom Island

Gerritsz's chart is also notable for its sophisticated depiction of the Philippine Archipelago. 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 the account of Joris van Spilbergen's 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 seemed to appear out of nowhere on Jansson's 1630 map: its information originated in Gerritsz's 1622 manuscript and had not been improved upon by the end of the chartmaker's life when he engraved the present map. It retained 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, only to disappear on Linschoten's map of the region, and those maps descended from it. Lacking Gerritsz's sources, we cannot know why the official hydrographer to the VOC would include the island on his manuscript. However, on the strength of Gerritsz's work, the island appears not only here but also on subsequent maps by Dudley, Goos, Moll, and others. Dampier, in 1697, even described the island's inhabitants, flora, and fauna, so certain was he of the island's existence. Velarde's famous and authoritative 1734 map eliminated the phantom island, which might have been expected to settle the issue; indeed, many cartographers followed Velarde's model. Nevertheless, the island survived the eighteenth century in many works, including such lights as the French Bellin in 1752 and the British Laurie and Whittle in 1794. Glimpses appear even as late as 1855.

China, Japan, and a Mysterious Korea

The China coast corresponds with Luis Jorge de Barbuda's place names as found on Ortelius' 1584 map. The southern Korean coast and the whole southern coast of Japan have been retained from the coasts appearing on Gerritsz's manuscripts. In this lies an astonishment: while the present work - even in its Gerritz first state - explicitly names Korea as an island, Gerritsz's 1622 Mar Del Sur clearly presented Korea as a peninsula. We are left only to speculate whether the official VOC chartmaker had simply changed his mind or whether the peninsularity of Korea was of such cartographic import that its revelation on a printed map would run against VOC interests.

Proliferation of 'Thieves'

Several locations bear variations on the place name 'Ladrones.' In the southeast corner are the Insulae Ladrones, now understood as the Mariana Islands. A further I. de Ladrones appears on the southern coast of Korea, corresponding with Jeju Island. In both cases, the name is derived from the Spanish and Portuguese word for 'Thieves.' The appellation of 'Ladrones' in the Marianas dates back to Magellan's reception in Guam by the Chamorros, who boarded the ship and stole whatever could be taken. As for Korea, the archipelago, including Jeju and Tsushima, long maintained a reputation for piracy - at the least, the passive piracy of stripping wrecks. The name appears on maps of Korea going back to the 1595 Ortelius and the 1596 Linschoten, so it is unsurprising to see it surviving here.

Apocryphal Lake Chiamay

The mythical Lake of Chiamay appears at the western extreme of the map, roughly in what is today Assam, India. Early cartographers postulated that such a lake must exist to source the four important Southeast Asian river systems: the Irrawaddy, the Dharla, the Chao Phraya, and the Brahmaputra. This lake appeared on maps of Asia as early as the 16th century and persisted well into the mid-18th century. Its origins are unknown but may originate in a lost 16th-century geography prepared by the Portuguese scholar Jao de Barros. It was also heavily discussed in the journals of Sven Hedin, who believed it to be associated with the Indian legend that a sacred lake, Mansarovar, linked several of the holy subcontinent river systems. There are even records that the King of Siam led an invasion force to take control of the lake in the 16th century. Nonetheless, the theory of Lake Chiamay was ultimately disproved, and it disappeared from maps entirely by the 1760s.

Allegorical Decoration

The central title cartouche is flanked by soldiers in Mogul garb. In the lower left is a magnificent dedicatory cartouche to Laurens Reael (1583 - 1637), a Dutch commander, diplomat, and former Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Reael was instrumental in Blaeu's acquisition of Gerritsz' copper plates for this and other maps, so the dedication is directly relevant to the publication of this specific work.

The arms are surmounted by a caduceus - a symbol of commerce - but the cartouche is flanked by Athena (Goddess of Wisdom in War) and an armored warrior bearing a rod of command. At his feet are two putti, one displaying an armillary sphere while the other - wearing Ares' helmet - beats a war drum. In the lower right corner, the scales are further embellished with putti playing with navigational tools and a globe. Two more wonder at a magnetic compass. Thus, the tools of navigation and cartography are placed in the service of both war and commerce.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved as a chart by Hessel Gerritsz between 1630 and his death in 1632. When Blaeu succeeded Gerritsz as the official chartmaker to the VOC, the copperplate was purchased by Willem Blaeu with the aid of Laurens Reael. It first appeared in Blaeu's 1634 atlas in its second state, sporting a decorative engraving but lacking the dedication to Reael. The third state, including the dedication, first appeared in the 1635 Blaeu Novus Atlas and was included in all of Willem and Joan Blaeu's atlases thereafter, with no further state changes. The present example conforms typographically to examples found in Dutch editions of the Novus Atlas (1642 - 1658). Separate examples of the map are well represented in institutional collections and appear on the market from time to time.