1598 De Bry / Lodewijcksz Map of the East Indies: Java, Sumatra, Malaya

Revealing Dutch Secrets in the East.

This scarce, beautiful map of the East Indies is Theodore De Bry's 1598 edition of the suppressed work of Cornelis Claesz and Willem Lodewijcksz. The map represents the first Dutch voyage to the Spice Islands and thus the dawn of the Dutch ascendency as a global trade powerhouse. It is also among the earliest printed maps to include Bali.

A Closer Look

Based upon the reports of Lodewijcksz, the map embraces the East Indies From Sumatra to Borneo, and from Southern Malay (Chersonese) to Java, including the Straits of Malacca, the Straits of Singapore, and the Sunda Strait. Lodewijcksz accompanied Cornelis de Houtmann on his 1595 - 1597 voyage to the East Indies. Houtmann's ill-starred and initially unpromising voyage nevertheless signaled the Dutch entry and initial domination of the pepper trade. The chart focuses specifically on the Malacca Strait and the Sunda Strait. The former being the Portuguese-controlled route to the spice islands, and the latter being the passage to the Dutch foothold of Bantam - a tenuous trade enclave established by Houtmann on the island of Java.

The Called Shot

The 1595 publication in Amsterdam of Jan van Linschoten's Reys-gheschrift vande navigatien der Portugaloysers in Orienten provided the Dutch with third first glimpse of the Portuguese overseas empire, including not only the navigational information needed access the Far East, but also descriptions of the different nations with whom the Portuguese traded. It was Linschoten who proposed the Dutch bypass the Portuguese-held Malacca Strait by navigating the Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java. Such a passage made the Javanese port of Bantam, situated at the eastern mouth of the Sunda Strait, an ideal foothold. Thus, when Houtmann's fleet set out in 1595, their goal was Bantam. Following a miserable passage, the fleet arrived at Bantam in June 1596.

Houtmann's Journey on the Chart

A comparison of the Lodewijcksz chart with Linschoten's 1596 map points out sharp differences based on the 1595 - 1597 voyage. The Sunda Strait includes the cluster of islands which made it difficult to find the channel. While Bantam appears on Linschoten's chart amongst other towns, Lodewijcksz' identifies twice as many settlements - and, moreover, provides a wealth of inland detail, including rivers, a range of mountains to the west, and an inland city of Sura (Serang?).

Exploiting Rivalries

Deeper south in Java - indeed, placed directly within the Roman Capitals for 'JAUVA INSULA' - is the city of Matarang. Although its location was not well understood, this was the capital of the Mataram Sultanate, the last major independent Javanese kingdom before Dutch colonization. While Bantam controlled the coast, the rival Mataram controlled the interior. Knowledge of the local powers was essential to the Dutch, who soon capitalized on opportunities to play one against the other.

Madura and Bali

Houtmann's fleet, heading east for the Moluccas, next landed on the island of Madura, whose natives were prepared to receive them peacefully. Unfortunately, along the way the fleet had been beset by pirates, and so Houtmann unleashed his enraged crew to rape and pillage blameless Madura.

Houtmann was better behavior at his next destination, Bali. His meeting with the Balinese monarch secured a supply pots of peppercorn. Bali is named here, but it is not on Linschoten's 1596 chart, marking this as one of the first maps to name the island.

Secret Knowledge

The mariner Willem Lodewijcksz, who sailed with Houtmann kept a logbook which Cornelis Claesz published in 1598 as Historie van Indien. He also engraved a chart to illustrate the voyage's findings, which was swiftly suppressed by the merchants of Amsterdam, who correctly recognized value of keeping the cartographic knowledge under wraps. Claesz would nevertheless publish the chart separately, now known in only a handful of examples. This chart, printed later that same year after the Claesz/ Lodewijcksz chart, is also very scarce. De Bry's engraving is superb and artful. The elaborate compass roses and strapwork cartouches reflect the original, although the primary cartouche's garlands and birds are De Bry's own. The four ships of Houtmann's fleet sail the waters north of Java.

Publication History and Census

The present map was engraved in 1598 by Frankfurt mapmaker Theodore De Bry for inclusion in his Petits Voyages. Perhaps a dozen examples of the separate map are listed in institutional collections.

Cartographers

Théodore de Bry (1528 - March 27, 1598) was an important publisher active in the mid to late 16th century. De Bry was born in 1528 in Liege, then a Prince-Bishopric and thus independent of neighboring nations. The De Bry family were accomplished jewelers and copperplate engravers and, following the family tradition, Theodore apprenticed in these fields under his grandfather Thiry de Bry senior (? - 1528), and later under his father, Thiry de Bry junior (1495 - 1590). To avoid growing religious strife in the region, Théodore de Bry left Liege for the more tolerant Strasbourg. Shortly afterward, in 1577, he moved again to Antwerp and, in 1580, to London, where he became well known for his engraving skills. In either Antwerp or London, De Bry befriended the English publisher and editor of travelers' tales Richard Hakluyt. Inspired by Hakluyt's work, De Bry began to collect travelers' tales, particularly of voyages to the New World. His most prominent acquisition was most likely the letters and papers of the French painter and mapmaker Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues discussing a disastrous attempt by French Huguenots to colonize parts of Florida. Around 1588, De Bry moved to Frankfurt, where he began his own publishing firm. Among De Bry's earliest and most prominent publications are his Grands Voyages, a multivolume compilation of travelers' tales that included the work of Le Moyne as well as some of the earliest published depictions of the North American mainland. The firm also published various other works, including an important account of early English attempts to colonize Virginia with illustrations by John White. De Bry died in Frankfurt on March 27, 1598, having never left the shores of Europe, though his name was associated throughout Europe with tales of travel and adventure. Théodore de Bry was succeeded by his son Jean-Théodore (1560 - 1623), who continued the publishing firm until his own death in 1623.   Further Details...

Willem Lodewijcksz (c. 1570 - April 1604) was a Dutch merchant, voyage chronicler, and cartographer associated with Amsterdam and the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies in 1595 - 1597. His birthplace, education, and family circumstances have not been established. Already experienced in seafaring, he joined Cornelis de Houtman's (1565 - 1599) expedition as an assistant merchant aboard the Amsterdam. During the voyage, he undertook reconnaissance, recorded nautical observations, and prepared coastal views, gathering information particularly valuable for mapping the Sunda Strait, northern Java, and Bali. After the fleet returned to the Netherlands in August 1597, the Amsterdam publisher Cornelis Claesz issued his illustrated account as D'Eerste Boeck. Historie van Indien in 1598, with French and Latin translations appearing in the same year. Its cartographic material included coastal profiles, plans of Banten and its harbor, and a separate representation of Bali. Lodewijcksz also compiled a larger regional chart, engraved by Baptista van Doetecum and published separately by Claesz in 1598, covering southern Malaya, Sumatra, southern Borneo, Java, Bali, and neighboring islands. Combining information gathered during the expedition with earlier geographical knowledge, it substantially increased the detail available in print for western and northern Java and the approaches to the Sunda Strait. Although the voyage account announced a chart of Java and Sumatra, that chart is absent from the known editions. Its omission is often attributed to the expedition's merchant backers' desire to restrict commercially sensitive information, although the precise circumstances remain uncertain. Surviving impressions of the separately published regional chart include copies bearing printed sailing directions on the reverse, suggesting its intended practical use rather than proving use at sea. Lodewijcksz's subsequent career remains obscure; he died in April 1604.   Further Details...

Source

De Bry, T., Petits Voyages, (Frankfurt) 1598.    

Condition

Very good. Reinforced at junctures of folds, few marginal mends. printers' crease at bottom center. Attractive hand color.

References

OCLC 857778292. Suarez, Thomas, Early mapping of Southeast Asia, (Hong Kong: Periplus) pp.181-182, fig. 95.