- Titles: [See Descriptions]
- Author: Frederick de Wit
- Date: 1600
- Condition: See Description
- Inches: 17 3/8 x 21 5/8 [Paper]
- Centimeters: 44.13 x 54.92 [Paper]
- Product ID: 308711
De Wit’s Extremely Scarce Separately Published Continents, all First State
Each of these maps was printed in 1660 with similarly styled cartes-a-figures to the right and left borders and vignettes of famous cities along the top. These maps were separately published and are scarce individually, and almost unknown as a collection. They were occasionally added to composite atlases, most frequently to Doncker's maritime atlas.
Nova Totivs Americae Descriptio... Dated 1660, First State
The Americas are presented on a slightly tilted projection, emphasizing the sweep from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego, with California shown as a prominent island and only a speculative northwest coastline beyond it. North America is sparsely detailed inland but carries dense coastal toponymy, while South America shows a more mature network of rivers and settlements, especially along the Atlantic seaboard and in Peru and Brazil.
The borders are richly framed by standing figures of “American” peoples, engraved as full‑length ethnographic types: along the verticals you have pairs of Magellanic, Brazilian, Chilean, and Virginian figures, all in highly theatrical dress that reflects European imagination more than reality. Across the top run vignette views of key American towns and ports—engraved bird’s‑eye prospects of places such as Havana, Mexico City, and Cartagena—which visually anchor Dutch commercial interests in the New World. The Baroque title cartouche in the North Atlantic features an allegorical America clad as fame astride an armadillo on a pedestal, while a lively scene of sea gods and indigenous figures occupies the South Pacific, reinforcing both maritime power and exoticism.
Nova Africa Descriptio... Dated 1660, First State
Africa with the familiar mid‑17th‑century depiction: fairly accurate along the Mediterranean and east and west coasts, more conjectural in the interior, and still influenced by Ptolemaic traditions in its river systems. The Nile is fed by lakes in central Africa, and the southern interior carries a patchwork of kingdoms and regions—Monomotapa, Congo, Guinea—reflecting a blend of classical sources, Portuguese reporting, and Dutch trading intelligence.
The sheet is framed by a full set of “costume” panels: along each vertical margin, male and female figures representing regional African types, from North African and Ethiopian dress to West and Central African peoples, each labeled and staged against a plain ground so the clothing silhouette reads clearly. Across the top is a procession of harbor and city views—Mediterranean ports, West African roadsteads, and Red Sea approaches—underscoring the littoral perspective of Dutch trade around the continent. The title cartouche in the western Indian Ocean shows Africa personified, seated on a stylized crocodile and surrounded by fauna and trophies, while a second cartouche at the Cape features a spirited marine scene Poseidon in a chariot, putti, trumpeting winds, and a large banner bearing De Wit’s Amsterdam imprint.
Asiae Nova Descriptio... Dated 1660, First State
Asia extends from the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea through the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia to Japan and the still‑amorphous outlines of “Nova Zemla” and “Nova Hollandia” (Australia) at the map’s fringes. India, Ceylon, and the Southeast Asian archipelagos are comparatively well articulated, while the interior of Central and Northern Asia is dominated by broad regional labels—Tartaria, Cathay—and an oversized “Mare Tartarium,” reflecting the influence of earlier Dutch and Blaeu models.
In the side panels De Wit arrays a sequence of costumed Asian figures: Tartars, Arabians, Persians, Indians, “Chineans,” and Japanese types, each engraved as a full‑length figure with attributes that would have read as culturally legible to a Dutch audience. The upper border offers small panoramic views of major Asian cities and ports; Ormus, the fabled wealthy trading port (near the Strait of Hormuz), Aden, Jerusalem, Damascus, Rhodes and Famagusta. Each is tucked into an oval reserve separated by decorative strapwork. At the lower left, the title cartouche shows an allegorical Asia personified as a richly robed woman seated on a camel, holding a censer or scepter and surrounded by trade goods, a conventional vignette linking the continent with spices, incense, and luxury commodities.
Nova Europae Descriptio... No date, First and Only Known State (1660)
Europe is rendered with dense political and toponymic detail, reflecting the continent’s centrality to De Wit’s audience: coastlines are crisp, river systems and mountain chains are carefully engraved, and the map is crowded with towns, regions, and territorial names from Iberia to Muscovy. Northern Europe is pushed upward by the decorative border, but the familiar Dutch focus on the North Sea, Baltic, and Mediterranean trade routes remains clearly legible.
The vertical borders present an aristocratic “gallery” of European power: crowned rulers and nobles of Spain, France, England, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and Muscovy appear in full court costume, each identified by title and coat of arms, effectively turning the sheet into a parade of contemporary sovereignty. Along the top, a suite of finely cut city prospects—Rome, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Seville, Prague, and others—runs in a continuous frieze, each view separated by small ornamental spandrels. The lower right title cartouche shows Europa personified, seated on the back of Zeus as the bull, attended by putti and armorials; this classical vignette both anchors the composition and plays into the set’s larger program of allegorical continent personifications.
Background on Creator
Frederick de Wit was one of the great Dutch mapmakers and publishers of the 17th century, with a prolific career spanning publishing, engraving, and selling his works. He was born around 1629 in Gouda, moved to Amsterdam by the late 1640s, and built a major cartographic business there. He set up his own shop in Amsterdam in the 1650s and later became one of the city’s leading cartographic producers, offering the full range including sea atlases, terrestrial atlases, wall maps, and town books with plans and views. De Wit made highly decorative, finely engraved maps that were also geographically current for their time. His maps often feature elaborate cartouches, figures, and ornamentation.
One of his best-known works, and one that was immensely important to cementing his reputation was the world map Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula, first published around 1660. De Wit married Maria van der Way in 1661, gained Amsterdam citizenship privileges, and joined the Guild of Saint Luke in 1664. After his death in 1706, his widow continued the business until 1710, and his printed plates circulated widely after his death through later publishers such as Pieter Mortier and Covens & Mortier. For collectors, de Wit is prized because his maps sit at the intersection of art and geography: they are visually rich, historically important, and often scarce in good condition. His first world maps and his continental sheets are among the most desirable examples.
Condition
Verso without text, slight toning, occasional small restorations, tears, some staining, reinforcements at central fold, Asia, America and Africa with slight worming at lower margin. Later hand color.
References
Shirley, Rodney. The Mapping of the World: Early Printed World Maps 1472–1700. Holland Press, 1983.
Van der Krogt, Peter. Koeman’s Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. II (and supplements on De Wit).
Schilder, Günter. Monumenta Cartographica Neerlandica. Multiple vols. Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 1986.
Burden Philip, The Mapping of America…, Vol I, 1996