Insulae indiae orientalis praecipuae in quibus Moluccae celeberrime sunt

Jodocus Hondius I was a Flemish engraver, instrument maker, and map publisher whose career moved between Ghent, London, and Amsterdam. After leaving Ghent during the religious turmoil of the 1580s, he worked in London, where he became familiar with English maritime circles and with information surrounding Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation. In 1593 he settled in Amsterdam, and in 1604 acquired a large group of Gerard Mercator’s atlas plates. From 1606 he issued an expanded version of Mercator’s atlas, now generally known as the Mercator-Hondius atlas series.

In 1584, Jodocus Hondius I fled religious persecution in Ghent (now Belgium) and settled in London. There, he established himself as an engraver, instrument maker, and mapmaker. Three years later, he married Coletta van den Keere, sister of the renowned engraver Pieter van den Keere (8, 109, 122, 155, 217, 273). In 1593, Hondius moved to Amsterdam and founded the map publishing house "In de Wackere Hondt" ("In the Vigilant Dog"). In 1604, he acquired numerous copperplates from Gerard Mercator's atlas which he incorporated into his own collection. From 1606 to 1630, he published an expanded version of Mercator’s atlas, titled Gerardi Mercatoris, Atlas sive cosmographicae meditationes, in both Latin and French. Mercator remained credited as the author, Hondius’s name appeared as the publisher. These atlases are now collectively known as the Mercator-Hondius series.

During his time in London, Hondius became familiar with Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation (ffor Hondius’s portrait of Drake 212). This map, one of the few to trace Drake's presence in Southeast Asia, marks his landfall on the southern coast of Java with a dotted hypothetical line. The depiction of Sulawesi, labelled "Gilolo, " represents the perilous coast that nearly caused disaster for Drake expedition. His pioneering landing on Java’s southern coast is specifically marked with the inscription "Huc Franciscus Dra., " highlighting Hondius's unique access to firsthand details of Drake’s journey. Hondius’s map is rich in geographical and cultural annotations. He describes New Guinea, observing its superficial resemblance to the African Guinea coast, and notes that its status as an island remains uncertain. A cartouche details the spices of the Moluccas – cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger – and includes discussions about the various proposed locations of Java Minor. Smaller inscriptions record Dom Manuel de Lima's visit to Borneo and Martin Afonso de Melo's wintering spot, drawing from Portuguese sources likely based from Bartolomeu Lasso’s charts.