Early English Map of the Continent of Asia
This early map of Asia appeared in the 1666 edition of Dr. Peter Heylyn's Cosmographie . . . , first published in 1652.
The map was engraved by William Trevethen, one of the first maps of Asia engraved, printed and published in England. The map provides a comprehensive view of Asia, ranging from the northern Mare Tartaricum to Adu Island near the Maldives in the south. It spans from the western areas of Candia to the eastern territories near Japan. The map includes regions such as Japan, Formosa, the Ryukyu Islands (positioned south of Formosa), the Philippines, Indonesia, Sumatra, the Malayan Peninsula, Indo-China, Siam, Burma, China, Tibet, Mongolia, Korea, and parts of Central and South Asia. It also touches on areas like Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, certain parts of Africa, the Holy Lands, and some sections of Europe, Russia, and the Crimea.
The map is detailed, marking rivers, mountain ranges, cities, and other geographical features, offering a depiction of the Asian continent that would have been considered accurate for its time. The treatment of Korea as a long narrow peninsula is based upon a configuration popularized by Linschoten.
This is the second map of Asia to appear in Heylyn's Cosmographie . . . , replacing the 1652 map engraved by Goddard.
Peter Heylen, clergyman and geography, was a Royalist who was forced to follow Charles into exile in 1642. Besides writing religious tracts against the Puritans, he devoted himself to his Geography, first pubished in 1621, then expanded into his Cosmography, first published in 1652.
Philip Chetwinde was a bookseller and publisher in seventeenth-century London, active from 1653 to 1674. Chetwinde is best known for publishing the Third Folio of Shakespeare's plays.
Chetwinde started as a clothworker before entering the publishing industry through his 1637 marriage to Mary Allot, widow of Robert Allot, a publisher of the Second Folio of Shakespeare. This marriage gave Chetwinde rights to publish works by Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.
Despite early challenges due to his lack of formal apprenticeship with the Stationers Company, Chetwinde successfully moved into publishing. He used his rights to Jonson's works to contribute to the publication of the Second Jonson folio in 1640–1641, officially published by Richard Meighen.
By 1653, Chetwinde began operating fully as a stationer. In 1663, he published the Third Folio of Shakespeare, a corrected reprint of the Second Folio, printed by Alice Warren, Roger Daniel, and either Thomas Ratcliffe or John Hayes.
In 1664, he released a second impression of the Third Folio, adding seven plays, including Pericles, Prince of Tyre, the only one among them now considered partly authentic to Shakespeare.
In addition to his work with Shakespeare, Chetwinde published a variety of religious works and was notable for publishing books in the Welsh language. He also frequently collaborated with female printers, such as Alice Warren, Ellen Cotes, and Sarah Griffin.