1598 De Bry / Lodewijcksz Map of the East Indies: Java, Sumatra, Malaya

This scarce, beautiful map of the East Indies is Theodore De Bry's 1598 edition of the suppressed work of Cornelis Claesz and Willem Lodewijcksz. The map represents the first Dutch voyage to the Spice Islands and thus the dawn of the Dutch ascendency as a global trade powerhouse. It is also among the earliest printed maps to include Bali.

A Closer Look

Based upon the reports of Lodewijcksz, the map embraces the East Indies From Sumatra to Borneo, and from Southern Malay (Chersonese) to Java, including the Straits of Malacca, the Straits of Singapore, and the Sunda Strait. Lodewijcksz accompanied Cornelis de Houtmann on his 1595 - 1597 voyage to the East Indies. Houtmann's ill-starred and initially unpromising voyage nevertheless signaled the Dutch entry and initial domination of the pepper trade. The chart focuses specifically on the Malacca Strait and the Sunda Strait. The former being the Portuguese-controlled route to the spice islands, and the latter being the passage to the Dutch foothold of Bantam - a tenuous trade enclave established by Houtmann on the island of Java.

The Called Shot

The 1595 publication in Amsterdam of Jan van Linschoten's Reys-gheschrift vande navigatien der Portugaloysers in Orienten provided the Dutch with third first glimpse of the Portuguese overseas empire, including not only the navigational information needed access the Far East, but also descriptions of the different nations with whom the Portuguese traded. It was Linschoten who proposed the Dutch bypass the Portuguese-held Malacca Strait by navigating the Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java. Such a passage made the Javanese port of Bantam, situated at the eastern mouth of the Sunda Strait, an ideal foothold. Thus, when Houtmann's fleet set out in 1595, their goal was Bantam. Following a miserable passage, the fleet arrived at Bantam in June 1596.

Houtmann's Journey on the Chart

A comparison of the Lodewijcksz chart with Linschoten's 1596 map points out sharp differences based on the 1595 - 1597 voyage. The Sunda Strait includes the cluster of islands which made it difficult to find the channel. While Bantam appears on Linschoten's chart amongst other towns, Lodewijcksz' identifies twice as many settlements - and, moreover, provides a wealth of inland detail, including rivers, a range of mountains to the west, and an inland city of Sura (Serang?).

Exploiting Rivalries

Deeper south in Java - indeed, placed directly within the Roman Capitals for 'JAUVA INSULA' - is the city of Matarang. Although its location was not well understood, this was the capital of the Mataram Sultanate, the last major independent Javanese kingdom before Dutch colonization. While Bantam controlled the coast, the rival Mataram controlled the interior. Knowledge of the local powers was essential to the Dutch, who soon capitalized on opportunities to play one against the other.

Madura and Bali

Houtmann's fleet, heading east for the Moluccas, next landed on the island of Madura, whose natives were prepared to receive them peacefully. Unfortunately, along the way the fleet had been beset by pirates, and so Houtmann unleashed his enraged crew to rape and pillage blameless Madura.

Houtmann was better behavior at his next destination, Bali. His meeting with the Balinese monarch secured a supply pots of peppercorn. Bali is named here, but it is not on Linschoten's 1596 chart, marking this as one of the first maps to name the island.

Secret Knowledge

The mariner Willem Lodewijcksz, who sailed with Houtmann kept a logbook which Cornelis Claesz published in 1598 as Historie van Indien. He also engraved a chart to illustrate the voyage's findings, which was swiftly suppressed by the merchants of Amsterdam, who correctly recognized value of keeping the cartographic knowledge under wraps. Claesz would nevertheless publish the chart separately, now known in only a handful of examples. This chart, printed later that same year after the Claesz/ Lodewijcksz chart, is also very scarce. De Bry's engraving is superb and artful. The elaborate compass roses and strapwork cartouches reflect the original, although the primary cartouche's garlands and birds are De Bry's own. The four ships of Houtmann's fleet sail the waters north of Java.

Publication History and Census

The present map was engraved in 1598 by Frankfurt mapmaker Theodore De Bry for inclusion in his Petits Voyages. Perhaps a dozen examples of the separate map are listed in institutional collections.