High Resolution of Western Map                     High Resolution of Eastern Map

High Resolution of Closeup

A matching set of the beautifully engraved two-sheet map of Western & Eastern Africa.  The maps are literally filled with cartographic detail - sailing ships and sea battles, sea monsters, animals within Africa, numerous compass roses, and strap-work cartouches.  These maps represent two of the more beautiful maps of Africa!   Tooley calls the eastern Africa map "the earliest and most decorative special map of the East Coast of Africa embracing the eastern Cape, Natal, the Portuguese East, and Kenya".   These two maps are becoming increasingly difficult to find, especially in fine condition like these two examples.

The western map shows the Cape of Good Hope (to the Rio do infante in the east) northward to Sierra Leone and West Africa.  In the interior is the western Nile source lake of Lake Zaire & Zembre with two mermaids in the lake.  Three attractive scrollwork cartouches are in the southern Atlantic:  at the bottom, a decorative inset view shows the important Portuguese possessions of Ascension and St Helena.  The middle cartouche, decorated with the Portuguese coat of arms, contains the map title in Latin and in Dutch, and the name of the engraver, Arnold Floris van Langren.  The titles give a brief description of the territory depicted as follows: "Illustration of the coasts of the lands of Guinea, Manicongo, Angola, and down beyond the Cape of Good Hope ... all very accurately indicated, revised and improved in accordance with the best Indian maps [n.b. Van Linschoten's maps from Goa]".  The top cartouche is the mileage scale.  Of special interest, the bottom cartouche contains a small portrait at the top of a man with a beard and a hat.  It does not appear to be Van Linschoten, but it could possibly be an image of the map's engraver, Van Langren.

The eastern map shows the eastern side of Africa and part of the Indian Ocean (the bottom parts of present-day India and Ceylon appear in the upper right corner).  It is a continuation of the western map of Africa.  The western Nile source lake of Zaflan is shown.  Above this lake is a visual representation of the Kingdom of Prester John in Ethiopia.   The cartouche on the right side contains the titles in Latin and in Dutch with a description of the territories as follows:  "Illustration of the coasts of the land called Terra do Natal, and likewise of all the coasts of Safala, Mozambique, Melinde, and the island of S. Lorenzo [Madagascar] ... likewise of the islands from Maldiva to the Island of Ceylon shown to the promontory of Cormorin, situated on the coast of India ... all very accurate, revised, and improved in accordance with the very best Indian maps.".

The extensive details of coastal and other navigational points are likely based on those from the portolan charts of the Portuguese, especially those by Bartolomeu Lasso.  Jan Huygen van Linschoten (1562-1611), from Haarlem and then Enkhuizen in Holland, was "one of the pathfinders for the first Dutch voyages to the East" (Schilder, p. 195).  He was in the service of the Portuguese as Secretary to the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa in India from 1583 to 1589.  Here, he had access to many Portuguese portolans as well as other valuable commercial information, especially as Goa at this time was the commercial and political center for the Portugal Empire in the East.  Van Linschoten left Goa for home in January 1589.  On the way to Portugal, his ship was pursued by an English fleet and lost its cargo in a storm while anchored off the Azores.  After the loss of the cargo, Van Linschoten was persuaded to stay and help recover it; he spent two years on Tercera, working and preparing his notes from Goa.  Van Linschoten eventually arrived in Lisbon early in 1592, and then sailed home to The Netherlands.  In The Netherlands, Van Linschoten wrote a history of his years of travel, the Itinerario..., which incorporated all that he had learned from the Portuguese.  This book and the accompanying maps provided precise information on the Portuguese sea routes to the East, their re-supply points around Africa, and their trading stations in the East. The book had a tremendous influence on Dutch expansion in the East and particularly in Java.

These maps were prepared and first appeared in Linschoten's book published in Dutch in 1596, and then in Latin in 1599, English in 1598, French in 1610,1619, and 1638, and again in Dutch in 1605, 1614, 1623, and 1644 (Map Collector Circle).  As there is no text on verso, it is difficult to precisely date this map.  Van Langrens prepared and engraved this map (Arnoldus F a Langren delineauit, & sculpsit).  Both maps are designed and finely engraved, owing to the renowned expertise of Van Langrens.

Reference:  Schilder, Gunter, Monumenta Cartographica Neerlandica, vol VII. (chapter X is devoted to Linschoten).   Linschoten, Discours of Voyages into Y East & West Indies, Facsimile of the London 1598 edition. Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Amsterdam, 1974.

Very Fine Condition.   Strong map impression with a clean image on solid paper.  No backing tissue or facsimile.  Very wide margins for Van Linschoten maps, especially as they were often cut close to the neatline to fit into the book.  The high resolution images include the entire border to show the complete margins.  Evidence of binder's stub on verso where the maps were affixed to the book.  Superb examples of two of the most decorative maps available.