Nova tabula insularum Iavae, Sumatrae, Borneonis et Aliarum Mallaccam usquae delineata in insula Iava ubi ad vivum designantur vada et brevia scopulique interjacentes descripta a G.M.A.L

Willem Lodewijcksz. was a Dutch naval officer and clerk on the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies, led by Cornelis de Houtman between 1595 and 1597. After the fleet returned to the Dutch Republic, Lodewijcksz.’s account of the voyage was published by Cornelis Claesz. in Amsterdam in 1598 (54). This detailed chart Java Sea chart associated with the voyage was reportedly withheld from the printed account at the request of Amsterdam merchants concerned about the commercial value of the information. Claesz. nevertheless issued the map separately later that year.

The chart extends from the Nicobar Islands in the northwest to Sumbawa in the southeast. It covers the Strait of Malacca, Sumatra, the Sunda Strait, the north coast of Java, southern Borneo, and the waters leading toward the Spice Islands. Its attention to reefs, shoals, rocks, shallow waters, islands, and sailing hazards reflects the navigational knowledge gathered during the voyage and the commercial value of accurate information about the Java Sea. The title appears at lower left in Latin and Dutch, together with the names of the publisher, Cornelis Claesz., and the engraver, Baptista van Doetecum. The initials G.M.A.L. stand for Guilielmus M. A. Lodewijcksz. Below the title are fish and birds shown above the water near four sailing ships, with a Latin caption noting that their appearance in the Indian Ocean is described in the voyage account under the island of Java.

A cartouche at lower right explains the Malay word pulo, meaning island, and includes scale bars in Spanish and German miles. Another cartouche at the upper left explains puro, meaning strait or city in Malay. At the centre of the Java Sea, the four Dutch ships of de Houtman’s fleet — Mauritius, Amsterdam, Hollandia, and Duifje — mark the expedition’s presence in these waters. The upper right corner contains six detailed illustrations reduced from images in Lodewijcksz.’s printed account. They are accompanied by Latin captions describing key scenes and figures from the region. These include Satrapa Sumatrensis, a Sumatran chief in the village of Damphin at the Sunda Strait, attended by bodyguards; Gubernator urbis Bantan, the governor of Bantam, named Cepate, shown administering justice alongside the chief religious leader, or Ceque, from Mecca; and Prcecipui Mercatores Chinenses, prominent Chinese merchants travelling across Java to buy pepper, depicted with their wives, concubines, and a weigh-pole. Other scenes show Galeota and Cymbce piscatorice — galleys from Bantam, or Cachurs, and fishing boats, with cargo ships sailing on the monsoon winds — and Nobiles Insulae Bali, noblemen of Bali carried by alternating servants and accompanied by guards armed with small lances.

This chart is closely connected with Lodewijcksz.’s printed account of the voyage (54) and with Cornelis Claesz.’s route map of the outward and return voyages to Java (69). It was later reduced and re-engraved by the de Bry firm for India Orientalis, part 2 (68and 104), where the upper-right vignettes were removed and replaced by a bilingual title. The related route-map tradition continued through the de Bry firm’s adaptation of Claesz.’s route map in India Orientalis, part 3 (67). Together, these works show how the first Dutch voyage to Java moved from eyewitness narrative to separate map publication and then into international illustrated travel collections.