Le nouveau theatre du monde

Pieter van der Aa was a Leiden publisher, bookseller, and engraver active in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Although not a mapmaker in the technical sense, he became a prolific compiler and publisher of maps, views, and charts, adapting earlier sources for works such as Le Nouveau Théâtre du Monde (1713), Atlas nouveau et curieux des plus célèbres itinéraires (1714), and La Galerie agréable du monde (1729).

This title page was engraved by François van Bleyswijck for Le Nouveau Théâtre du Monde first published in Leiden by Pieter van der Aa in 1713. The allegorical composition brings together figures associated with earth, geography, time, navigation, and maritime power.​ Cybele, the goddess of the earth, is seated in a chariot drawn by a cheetah and a lion. She wears a turreted crown and gestures towards Geography, who holds an open book and uses dividers on an unmarked map, suggesting a focus on India and the Far East. Behind Geography stands a seaman's cross-staff, symbolising navigation.

Opposite Geography is Time, shown as a bearded man with an hourglass on his head and a scythe in hand, counting the passing years on his fingers. Behind him stands Neptune, god of the sea, holding his trident, representing maritime power. In the background, Hercules supports the heavens, with his club behind him, linking geography with strength and celestial knowledge.​ The maritime and trading scene in the background alludes to global commerce and the Dutch Republic’s role in early modern navigation, geography, and atlas publishing.