TOTIUS ORBIS COGNITI/ UNIVERSALIS DESCRIPTIO

Date1605

Cartographer Paulus Merula (1588-1607)

Engraver Johannes van Doetichum (fl. 1592 - 1630)

OriginEurope, Netherlands, Leiden

MediumBlack and white line engraving on laid paper

DimensionsOH: 13 3/8" x OW: 21 1/8"; Plate H: 11 1/2" x W: 19 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1989-324

DescriptionThe upper cartouche reads: "TOTIUS ORBIS COGNITI/ UNIVERSALIS DESCRIPTIO"

The lower left inset of St. Helena reads: "Joannes a Doetechum/ junior fecit"

Label TextThis map was engraved by Jan Van Doetecum for Dutch professor at the University of Leiden, geographer, and scholar Paulus Merula in 1605. The elaborate Baroque strapwork embellishments were based on a map engraved by Jan Van Doetecum's father, Baptista Van Doetecum, who engraved a double hemisphere map for Petrus Plancius, a founding member of the Dutch East India Company, in 1590. This map also includes to Celestial hemispheres that were taken from another world map by Plancius dating to 1594. Additions to this map include the recently explored Nova Zemlya and an early reference to the Philippines. The four insets of islands show areas of interest for the period. They depict: Ceylon, Japan, St. Helena and Thule or Iceland.

The addition of intricate decorative elements were typical in Dutch cartography of the 17th century. Just as they had dominated trade for most of the century, the Dutch were also the mapmakers to the world for most of the seventeenth-century. The tolerant Dutch Republic became a haven for intellectuals, explorers, artists, merchants, artisans, and mapmakers. Its stronghold on trade meant that the most up-to-date information was collected and compiled in the Netherlands by a competitive and successful map trade.