"Asia Noviter Delineata", Blaeu, Willem

This is an uncommon variant of one of the most famous 17th Century maps of the continent of Asia. It first appeared in 1617 with a carte-a-figures border. This example, without the decorative borders, is from a Dutch history book by Emmanuel van Meteren printed by Blaeu. The eastern coastline of Asia is severely truncated, Korea is shown as an island, and Japan is depicted on the Ortelius-Teixeira model. The Indian subcontinent is too narrow and the islands of Indonesia are very sketchy. A large island labeled Ceiram probably represents the western part of New Guinea. In the interior, the Caspian Sea is oriented on an east-west axis and there are several large erroneous lakes in China including the mythical Chiamay Lacus. Even without the famous borders, this is a decorative map with several ships and sea monsters in the seas, wild animals in the interior and a fine title cartouche.

References: cf Yeo #24.

Condition: A