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Stock# 109492

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Hendrick Doncker

Title

Pas-caert van't westelyckste deel van Oost Indien, En de Eylanden daer onder begrepen, van C. de Bona Esperanca tot C. Comorin.

Publication Place / Date

Amsterdam / 1669 circa

Image Dimensions

21 x 17 inches

Color

Hand Colored

Condition

Stock# 109492

$2,400.00

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Description

This sea chart of the western Indian Ocean, published by Hendrick Doncker in Amsterdam around 1669, is the western of two sheets depicting the maritime routes between the Cape of Good Hope and the East. The chart follows the Dutch tradition of nautical cartography, with a network of rhumb lines, compass roses, and carefully outlined coastal features designed for navigation.

The map covers the eastern coast of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Persian Gulf, western India, and parts of the Indian Ocean islands, including Madagascar and the Maldives. It reflects the Dutch East India Company’s (VOC) expanding trade network, which relied on controlling key maritime choke points along this route, such as Mozambique, Mombasa, and the Gulf of Aden. The Cape of Good Hope is prominently featured, highlighting its importance as the entry point for European ships bound for the East Indies.

The decorative cartouche in the lower-left corner, surrounded by exotic creatures, serpents, and a bat, reinforces the mystique and dangers associated with long-distance oceanic voyages and the east coast of Africa. Doncker, a leading Amsterdam-based chartmaker, was known for producing highly functional yet visually striking sea charts, which were widely used by Dutch merchants and navigators during the late seventeenth century.

Rarity

The Doncker chart is somewhat rarer than the Pieter Goos one of the same subject from 1666. Whereas we have had that map four times (as of 2025), we have never before offered this map separately.

Condition Description

Original hand-color, somewhat faded. Engraving on 17th-century laid paper. Some overall toning.

Hendrick Doncker Biography

Hendrik Doncker was a prominent bookseller in Amsterdam best known for his sea charts and nautical atlases. He issued his own original charts, which he updated frequently, and also worked with colleagues like Pieter Goos, for example to produce the pilot guide, De Zeespeigel. He died in 1699, after fifty years in business. His plates then passed to Johannes van Keulen.