1703 Johannes Map of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

This is a scarce English edition 1703 map of the Cape of Good Hope in Cape Town, Africa by Dutch traveler Johannes Nieuhof. Oriented with north in the east, it covers from False Bay past the Cape of Good Hope northward past Cape Town as far as Dassen Island. This beautifully rendered map, based on the original Dutch version of 1682 appearing in Johan Nieuhoff’s travel book, features relief pictorially and names various mountains, bays and islands. Several illustrations of wild and domestic animals, including elephants, rhinos, snakes, cows, etc. are included throughout. Ships can be seen sailing in the ocean. Some oceanic depths are also noted along the coast. Several annotations such as ‘Good pasture ground in this valley,’ ‘Whale Rock so called from the noise it makes by reason of its hollowness’, ‘Ground not fit for tillage’, etc., give some information about the land.

The notorious prison, Robben Island is noted. False Bay is labeled Table Bay with a dotted line showing a canal from False Bay to Table Bay proposed by Commissioner-General Rijckloff van Goens, which was never built.

The lower left quadrant features a beautiful illustration of Table mountain and Table Bay. The beautifully rendered title cartouche features an animal hid held by native and a lion. The lower right includes the scale (in Dutch) with an illustration of a Dutch with a native holding a measuring instrument. This map is the English version of the original Dutch map first appearing in Johan Neiuhoff’s 1682 book based on his travels. Johan Neiuhoff traveled to the Cape of Good Hope in 1672 and later disappeared in Madagascar.