First rounding of Australia and the discovery of New Zealand

One of the most collectable maps of the Southern Hemisphere, showing the famous route rounding Australia, taken by Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603-1659?) the great Dutch navigator and explorer, on his way to discovering Tasmania, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji.

Leaving Batavia on August 14th 1642 in the ships Heemskerk and Zeehaen he was commanded by his employer, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Governor-General, Anthony van Diemen to explore the southern hemisphere to determine whether the discontinuous stretches of the northwest and west Australian coasts that had been discovered by Dutch navigators over the previous 35 years were continental and connected with the hypothetical southern continent.

Francois Valentijn (1666-1727) was a minister, naturalist and writer. He is best known for his Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien ("Old and New East-India"), a massive work containing illustrations and including some of the most accurate maps of the Indies at the time.

Valentijn was born in 1666 in Dordrecht, Holland, but spent significant time in the tropics, notably in Ambon, in the Maluku Archipelago. Valentijn was first employed by the Dutch V.O.C. or East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) at the age of 19, where he served as Minister to the East Indies.

The map has multiple wormholes professionally restored, contact us for a condition report.