1930 Stanford Map of East Asa: Java-China Japan Steamship Line

A dramatic large-scale c. 1930 Edward Stanford map promoting the Java-China Japan (JCJL) steamship line. Coverage extends from Mongolia to Java and northern Australia and from Burma to New Guinea, embracing China, Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, the East Indies, and the Philippines. Blue lines trace the routes of the JCJL through the Yellow, China, and Java Seas.

Java-China Japan Line

The Java-China Japan Line was a Dutch shipping and passenger line in East and Southeast Asia founded in 1902 by Ernst Heldring (1871 - 1954). Heldring was also the founder of several other shipping companies serving the East Indies inter-island trade including Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij (KPM), Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN) and Rotterdamsche Lloyd (RL). The firm maintained regular services, as illustrated here, between China, Japan, the Philippines, the East Indies, and French Indochina. Under a variety of names, it remained operational until 1970, when it merged with several other firms to form Nedlloyd. Java Road in Hong Kong is named after the line which had its headquarters there in the early 20th century.

Publication History and Census

This map was produced in London by Edward Stanford's Geographical Establishment - the premier mapmaker in early 20th century London. The map likely went through many iterations, of which we can find no clear breakdown. Based on the shipping lines, we estimate this map to have been issued around 1930. An example is part of the David Rumsey Map Collection. We also note an example cataloged in OCLC which is part of the collection at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, although it is cataloged as c. 1918.