Description
Magnificent example of the final edition of Frederick De Wit’s famous map of Australia oriented with north to the left published by Reinier and Joshua Ottens. This edition now includes van Diemen’s Land which is lacking in all earlier editions.
Australia is shown with the Dutch discoveries up to Tasman’s first and second voyages in 1642-43. A number of other mapmakers made near identical charts using the same orientation, including van Loon 1661, Goos 1666, Doncker 1669 and Seller 1670. This map was based on the prototype by van Loon, issued in his ‘Klaer Lichtende Noort-Ster Ofte Zee Atlas‘. At lower left de Wit places a decorative title cartouche comprising numerous robed figures, birds and trade goods. It’ use as a sea chart is borne by the numerous rhumb lines and compass points. The other Dutch discoveries noted include: Hartog 1616, Houtman 1619, van Leeuwin 1622, Cartensz 1623, Nuyts 1627 and de Wit 1628. The characteristic feature of Dutch charts produced in the second half of the seventeenth century is that they were based solely on the results of actual observation and where that was lacking, no coastlines were shown.
From; Ottens’ edition of de Wit’s, ‘Atlas dvan Zeevart en Koophandel door de Geheele Weereldt. Amsterdam
