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From Antonio Zatta's atlas ‘Atlante Novissimo’, this late 18th century map of Asia features a decorative cartouche consisting of drawings of Asian plants, a ceramic pot emitting smoke, two archery quivers, and pearls in shells.

Based on a map by Guillaume Delisle, this map of Southeast Asia shows mountains and settlements pictorially, with larger cities also coloured red. Regional borders are colour-coded, as are some internal borders on the Malay Peninsula.

On this map, ‘Lago di Chiamay’, one of number of mythical lakes once thought to exist in southern China, feeds five rivers—labelled ‘Menam’, ‘Pegu’ ‘Maraban’, ‘Cosmin’ and ‘Caor’—which flow south through mainland Southeast Asia.

From Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi’s ‘Mercurio Geografico’, this 17th century map of Asia represents mountains, jungles and cities pictorially, with hand-coloured regional borders. The map’s cartouche is decorated with clothing and weaponry.

This mid-17th century Italian map is from Sir Robert Dudley's atlas ‘Dell'arcano del Mare’, the first maritime atlas to show the whole world, and the first to use the Mercator projection.

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.

This mid-17th century map of Southeast Asia is from Isaac Commelin’s book describing the voyages of the Dutch East India Company ‘Begin ende voortgangh…’. There is an inset map of the island of Botton (Buton Island, southeast of Celebes (Sulawesi)).

An early map of Southeast Asia featuring a rhumbline network, a web of lines to help plot routes and aid navigation. Where the lines meet, there is a compass rose with an arrow pointing north. The map is decorated with illustrations of sea monsters.

This late 16th century map features a 'wind-head', a decorative feature consisting of a drawing of the head of a human blowing to indicate wind.

South is orientated towards the top of this map, with maritime Southeast Asia in the upper half and the mainland below. Top right is Java (‘Iava Magiore [Java Major]’); Borneo is labelled ‘Iava Menore [Java Minor]’. Ships and sea monsters are at sea.

This mid-16th century map of Southeast Asia shows some inaccuracies, especially in the shape of the Malay Peninsula and the islands meant to represent Sumatra (labelled ‘Camatra’), Java (‘Iava Mazor’) and Borneo (‘Iava Menor’). Latin text on reverse.