Hereditas Antikvárium

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9. Könyvárverés

Antwerp, 1593.
One of the rarest and earliest maps of China printed in Europe. Based on the work of Luiz Jorge de Barbuda (first published by Ortelius in 1584). It was prepared for the second edition of the „Speculum Orbis Terrarum”, edited by Cornelis de Jode, and the revised hemispherical representation shows the area in a north-south orientation. Using the notes of Jesuit missionaries ~ including Giovanni Pietro de Maffei and Juan González de Mendoza, indicated as sources in one of the side cartouches ~ and relying on Fernao Vaz Dourado’s manuscript portolan from 1573, de Jode shows the coastline of China in much more detail and accuracy, thereby revealing the Korean Peninsula (Costa de Cooira) for the first time on printed European map. In the north, the map field includes the easternmost part of the Northeast Passage and the territories inhabited by nomadic Tatar tribes of Russia, and in the south, it extends to the northern part of India. One of its most striking elements is the Great Wall running in the middle of the page. However, there is still much uncertainty regarding the Ganges watershed and the Himalayas, and Japan’s shape is almost unrecognisable in the east. In the four corners of the frame surrounding the map field, the engraver depicts cormorant fishing, a houseboat with a „poultry yard” on water, a sail-driven carriage, and figures worshipping a three-headed deity. Latin text on verso.
Dimensions: 365 x 455 (405 x 540) mm.
Fine, clear copy.
van der Krogt (III): 8410:32.