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Large scale wall-map of Tasman's voyages of 1642-43 and 1644, on which subsequent mapping of Australia was based until James Cook successfully mapped the eastern coast. As well as the more established mapping of south east Asia. The map includes the first sighting of Tasmania by Europeans, specifically the crew of the Zeehaen, and first mapping of New Zealand. The map itself is surrounded on three sides by panels of explanatory text in French, Latin and Dutch, including detail of Dutch names for Australia and New Zealand (Nieuw Hollant and Nieuw Zelandt). The Blaeu wall-map is thought to have been the model for the popular map 'Hollandia Nova detecta 1644', by travel writer Melchisedech Thevenot.
Includes two insets, at the same scale as the mian map, showing islands in the Ladrones (Marianas) to the north of the main map, and islands of Melanesia and Polynesia ("Insulae Salomonis" or Solomon Islands), discovered by Willem Corneliszoon Schouten and Jacob le Maire, eastwards as far as modern French Polynesia.
Text panels titled: Nouvelle description de l'archipelagve Oriental, ou Asiatique; Descriptio archipelagi orientalis sive asiatici; Beschryvinge van den Oosterschen oft Asiatischen archipelagvs.
The copperplates were created in 1659, and the map issued in two states, the second state in 1663 including a banner heading.
National Library of Australia's copy: Condition is fragile, with some loss of paper fragments, creases and undulations as a result of being rolled and stored over a period of time. The map's layers of varnish has become yellowed and obscures media in some areas of heavy application. Mounted on rollers.
Also available online https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232510007
In Latin, French and Dutch.
Related publication: Martin Woods, "Fragranced with Spice: The 1663 Blaeu wall map Archipelagus Orientalis, Sive Asiaticus", The Globe, no. 89, 2021, pp. 23-32.
Related publication: Brendan Whyte, John Crossley, Erik Geelen & Martin Woods, "Transcriptions and Translations of the Texts on Joan Blaeu’s 1663 Map Archipelagus Orientalis, Sive Asiaticus", The Globe, no. 89, 2021, pp. 33-84.
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