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A navigation map of the Banda Islands marked with bathymetry (sea depth), shoals and anchor points. On the island of Goenonghapy (Banda Api), a volcano erupts (‘api’ means ‘fire’ in Indonesian), and there is a military fort (‘Campa Nga’) on Nera.

The orientation of this map is unusual, with north to the right, so the west coast of Borneo is at the top. Its cartouche is decorated with drawings of seafaring people, and the scale with cherubs playing with cartography tools such as callipers.

French text on the reverse of this map describes the religion, languages, crops, trade etc. of Aracam and Pegu (Myanmar), Siam (Thailand), Cambaja (Cambodia). The map is dedicated to the Dutch merchant Christophoro Thisio.

This mid-17th century map of the Indian Ocean has a colourful cartouche illustrated with paintings of Asian merchants and warriors with bows and arrows. The scale is decorated with paintings of cherubs.

A map of the Java Sea between Java, Sumatra and Borneo. The web of lines is a rhumbline network, used to aid navigation. The cartouche and scale are decorated with paintings of Asian people and mythical creatures including cherubs.

Mountains and jungles are shown pictorially on this map of Sumatra and surrounding islands. The cartouche is decorated with Asian warriors; the scale with cherubs playing with cartography tools. From Jan Jansson’s Latin edition of ‘Atlas Maritimus’.

German text on the reverse of this map describes the populations, crops, trade etc. of Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, and Banda Islands. There are drawings of sailing ships, and the map is dedicated to the Dutch merchant Christophoro Thisio.

French text on the right of this map notes that the ‘Molucques’—an important region for the spice trade—were near the island of Gilolo (modern Halmahera) and names them as Ternate, Tindor (Tidore), Mutir (Moti), Machiam (Makian) and Bachian (Bacan).

A mid-17th century map by the Dutch cartographer Jan Jansson, depicting a small chain of six islands off the west coast of Gilolo (modern Halmahera, in the Indonesian Maluku Islands). German text on the reverse describes the Maluku Islands.

The outline of the island of New Guinea is very vague on this early 17th century map of Southeast Asia. The cartouche is decorated with two figures of Asian warriors: one holds a spear, the other a sword. There are also drawings of mermaids.

Four long rivers flow south through mainland Southeast Asia on this map: the ‘Menan’, ‘Manthabam’ and ‘Cosmin’ originate at a mythical lake (‘Chiamai Lacus’) in southern China, while the ‘Mecon’ (Mekong) flows from the hills of Cochinchina (Vietnam).