Nova totius terrarum orbis tabula ex officina

Frederik de Wit was a Dutch engraver, mapmaker, and publisher who became one of the leading figures of the Amsterdam map trade in the second half of the seventeenth century. After establishing his own publishing house in 1648 under the sign De Drie Crabben (The Three Crabs), he adopted the name Witte Pascaert (The White Chart) in 1655. From his premises on the Kalverstraat he produced wall maps, atlases, sea charts, and town plans distinguished by their elegant engraving, decorative richness, and high-quality colouring. His works remained influential well into the eighteenth century and were later acquired and reissued by the firm of Covens & Mortier.

This world map bears the signature of Romeyn de Hooghe in the lower left corner, beneath which the publication date of 1668 can be faintly discerned. Although the plate is dated 1668, it is generally associated with De Wit’s maritime atlas publications of the 1670s, including Orbis maritimus ofte zee atlas. Geographically, the map makes significant revisions to earlier world-map models, particularly the later editions of Joan Blaeu’s 1648 wall map. In North America, speculative inland features are replaced by a more developed rendering of the Great Lakes. Japan’s outline is revised, while northeastern Siberia appears close to both Japan and Compagnies Land, reflecting Maarten de Vries’s 1643 voyage. The long-standing Terra Australis Incognita has disappeared; in its place, Hollandia Nova appears prominently, incorporating Abel Tasman’s voyages of 1642–43 and 1644 alongside earlier Dutch discoveries.

The surrounding allegorical etchings by Romeyn de Hooghe form a structured programme based on the four classical elements. Fire, in the upper left, is represented through Pluto, Persephone, Cerberus, and scenes of destruction. Air, in the upper right, presents Olympus populated by planetary deities: Jupiter with his eagle and thunderbolts, Juno with peacocks, Mars, Venus, Apollo, Saturn, Mercury, and Diana, with a zodiac arc above. Earth, in the lower left, is shown through Cybele, agriculture, abundance, and civic prosperity. Water, in the lower right, is presided over by Neptune, Amphitrite, and Triton, with Dutch merchant shipping in the background. Together these scenes connect world geography with classical mythology, cosmology, maritime commerce, and Amsterdam’s civic identity.

Within the collection, this map is closely connected with De Wit’s earlier world map (128), which shows his first dated world-map design, and his Pacific chart (42), which develops many of the same Dutch discoveries in a specifically maritime format. It also relates to De Wit’s map of Asia (98), his map of the East Indies (470), and his atlas title page (286), together showing the range of De Wit’s geographical and decorative production.