Nieuwe wassende graaden paskaart vertoonende alle de bekende zeekusten en landen op den geheelen aard boodem of werelt

Claes Jansz. Vooght was a Dutch mathematician, teacher of navigation, and chartmaker closely associated with the Van Keulen publishing house. Prepared for Johannes van Keulen in 1682, this world chart was drawn on the Mercator projection for use in De nieuwe groote lichtende Zee-fakkel.

The chart presents the world through oceans, routes, rhumb lines, and maritime power. Dutch East Indiamen sail across the seas, while the known coasts of Hollandia Nova preserve Dutch discoveries in Australia, including 't Landt van Eendracht, recalling Dirk Hartog’s 1616 landfall in the Eendracht; coastal knowledge associated with Frederick de Houtman’s 1619 voyage; the Leeuwin, linked to the southwest coast; discoveries associated with Jan Carstensz. and Willem Joosten van Colster in northern Australia; Pieter Nuyts’s 1627 voyage in the 't Gulden Zeepaert along the southern coast; and G. F. de Wits Land, associated with Gerrit Frederiksz. de Witt. Tasman’s discoveries are also reflected, including Anthony van Diemens Landt and parts of New Zealand. The upper-left cartouche presents Europe receiving tribute from Asia, Africa, and America. Asia, offers jewels, with an incense burner and crescent sceptre; Africa and America appear with trade goods and exoticised attributes, including ivory, a snake, and a lion. Europe sits crowned at a table, associated with learning, the arts, and Christian authority. The imagery links geography, trade, knowledge, and European maritime power.

At lower left, Neptune drives a chariot across the sea, while marine figures flank the publisher’s cartouche. These details reinforce the chart’s purpose: this is not simply a world map, but a world sea chart presenting global geography through navigation, commerce, and Dutch hydrographic authority. This example is a 1728 issue of the second state, with Met Privilegie voor 15 Iaren added to the title. According to Shirley the first state appeared in 1682 without this privilege statement; the second state was reused in later Van Keulen atlases.

Within the collection, this chart is closely connected with Van Keulen’s East Indies charts (83, 95, and 266), his South Sea chart (182), and the VOC route chart from the Cape of Good Hope to Canton (270). Together, these works show how the Van Keulen firm organised global geography around maritime routes, commercial navigation, and Dutch access to the East Indies and Pacific.