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This marvelous miniature map was published in 1618 by Petrus Bertius, a prominent Flemish cartographer and geographer associated with the influential Hondius and Mercator families. The map offers a compact yet expansive depiction of the vast and largely uncharted regions of Inner and Northern Asia as understood by European geographers in the early 17th century. The map encapsulates a worldview shaped by classical sources, medieval travelers, and the nascent observations of European explorers.
Geographic coverage extends from the Black Sea and Caspian Basin eastward to the Pacific coast, encompassing present-day Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, and Siberia, and reaching as far as northeastern China and a speculative peninsula of North America labeled "Americae Pars." The Caspian Sea is here labeled Mare de Sala, exaggerated in size to encompass the Aral Sea and adjacent eastern lands, reflecting contemporary misconceptions about the inland hydrology of Central Asia. To the southeast, the map prominently marks the Great Wall of China, delineating the boundary between the Chinese Empire and the various nomadic groups of Inner Asia. Among the noted peoples and places are the Hordae, Kitais, Tartars, and Scythians, alongside historic cities such as Samarkand, Bukhara, Xanadu, and Cathay. A vast mountain range, presumably the Altai or Himalayas, bisects the lower center of the map, while the map’s northeastern corner illustrates the legendary Strait of Anian—a supposed waterway dividing Asia from America, and a vestige of the elusive Northwest Passage myth.
The cartography reflects the synthesis of classical and medieval sources, as well as the influence of Jesuit missionary reports and Venetian travel literature. Bertius' map offers a Europe-centered view of Asia as a remote and semi-mythical expanse dominated by nomadic empires and exotic geography. The delineation of Nova Zembla, Mare Congelatum, and other polar features show a growing awareness of Arctic exploration, though the knowledge remains speculative and fragmentary.
The inclusion of a sliver of North America to the northeast, identified as Americae Pars, underscores the map's speculative character and the persistent early-modern belief in a land bridge or narrow sea separating the continents. The Strait of Anian, frequently shown in maps of this period, reflects hopes for a navigable Arctic route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
This map is emblematic of the transitional phase of early modern cartography—when inherited medieval notions were being revised by empirical observation but were not yet displaced entirely.
Petrus Bertius was a Flemish historian, theologian, geographer, and cartographer. Known in Dutch as Peter de Bert, Bertius was born in Beveren. His father was a Protestant preacher and his family fled to London around 1568. The young Bertius only returned to the Low Countries in 1577, to attend the University of Leiden. A bright pupil, Bertius worked as a tutor and was named subregent of the Leiden Statencollege in 1593. He ascended to the position of regent in 1606, upon the death of the former regent, who was also Bertius’ father-in-law. However, due to his radical religious views, he eventually lost his teaching position and was forbidden from offering private lessons.
His brothers-in-law were Jodocus Hondius and Pieter van den Keere, who were both prominent cartographers. Bertius began his own cartographic publishing in 1600 when he released a Latin edition of Barent Langenes’ miniature atlas Caert Thresoor (1598). He published another miniature atlas that first appeared in 1616.
By 1618, Bertius was named cosmographer to Louis XIII. He converted to Catholicism and took up a position as professor of rhetoric at the Collège de Boncourt (University of Paris). In 1622, Louis XIII created a chart of mathematics specifically for Bertius and named him his royal historian. He died in Paris in 1629.
