DE JODE (CORNELIS)


Novae Guineae forma, & situs, engraved map of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands with part of the southern continent ("Terra Australis"), enlivened with a scene of a huntsman shooting a dragon, exotic animals, mystical beasts, and ships, Latin text on the verso, cut within platemark close to line border on left-hand margin, 348 x 218mm., [Antwerp, 1593]
|CONSIDERED THE FIRST PRINTED MAP OF AUSTRALIA. "Though this copperplate has New Guinea as its title and shows also the Solomon Islands, the whole of the lower half of the map depicts an entirely imaginary northern coast of Australia with vignettes of a native with bow and arrow attacking a gryphon, a snake and a lion" (Tooley). It has been suggested that the positioning of Australia could be based on explorations pre-dating the recorded Dutch contacts, the Latin text on the verso ("Huic regioni à Meridie est magnus ille terra Australis tractus...") translating as "To the south of this region [New Guinea] is the great tract Terra Australis, which when it is discovered will form a fifth part of the world..."