1650 Jan Jansson Antique Map Island of Java, Indonesia - Dutch East India Co

Cartographer : Jan Jansson

Description:
This large elegant & very impressive hand coloured original antique map, a sea chart of the Indonesian Island of Java including Sumatra, Borneo and Bali was published by Jan Jansson in the 1650 Edition of his "Water World" atlas Atlantis Majoris.

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Green, red, orange, yellow, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 23in x 19 1/2in (585mm x 495mm)
Plate size: - 20 1/2in x 16 3/4in (520mm x 425mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Small repair & ink notations
Plate area: - Light creasing
Verso: - None

Background:
Java & the port of Batavia was at the time of publication of the utmost importance to the Dutch East India Company and its domination of the Spice Trade.
This elegant chart focuses on the islands coast with the lack of detail on the interior correctly reflecting the lack of knowledge (or possible lack of importance) to the Dutch, who's primary concern was the sea and sea charts used in the trade of the ever lucrative Spice Trade.
The Dutch capital in the East Indies is Batavia (Jakarta) located on the NW coast. The beautiful chart is richly embellished with two fine cartouche featuring local Javanese warrior and Chinese merchants flanking the title and Neptune and mermaids surrounding the scale of miles... The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the second multinational corporation in the world (the British East India Company was founded two years earlier) and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the first mega-corporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies.
Statistically, the VOC eclipsed all of its rivals in the Asia trade. Between 1602 and 1796 the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asian trade on 4,785 ships, and netted for their efforts more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods. By contrast, the rest of Europe combined sent only 882,412 people from 1500 to 1795, and the fleet of the English (later British) East India Company, the VOC’s nearest competitor, was a distant second to its total traffic with 2,690 ships and a mere one-fifth the tonnage of goods carried by the VOC. The VOC enjoyed huge profits from its spice monopoly through most of the 17th century.
Having been set up in 1602, to profit from the Malukan spice trade, in 1619 the VOC established a capital in the port city of Batavia (now Jakarta) on the Indonesian Island of Java. Over the next two centuries the Company acquired additional ports as trading bases and safeguarded their interests by taking over surrounding territory. It remained an important trading concern and paid an 18% annual dividend for almost 200 years.
Weighed down by corruption in the late 18th century, the Company went bankrupt and was formally dissolved in 1800, its possessions and the debt being taken over by the government of the Dutch Batavian Republic. The VOC's territories became the Dutch East Indies and were expanded over the course of the 19th century to include the whole of the Indonesian archipelago, and in the 20th century would form Indonesia. (Ref: Tooley, M&B)

$1,725.00