Search

A navigation map of part of the north coast of Java, featuring the ports of Batavia (Jakarta) and Bantam (Serang). Includes colourful paintings of a ‘menschen fressers [cannibal]’ island, Javanese people and palm trees (dates, banana, coconut).

These pages are probably from ‘Newe Welt und Americanische Historien’ by Johann Gottfried. There are maps of Pulau Makian (‘Ins. Macjan’) and Pulau Bacan (Ins. Bacjan) in the Maluku Islands, and a plan of a fort on Makian.

Maps can sometimes record a single event: this map depicts an October 1603 battle between the Dutch and Portuguese, as they fought for control of the trade routes through the Singapore Straits. The text panel recounts the story of the battle.