Printed in 1726 by Francois Valentijn, this is the earliest and most desirable printed map of Taiwan or Formosa. It is considered the first specific printed map of Formosa. Oriented to the east, with north at the left, Valentijn's map covers the entire island was well as the nearby Pescadores, now known as the Penghu Islands, and the nautical route to Chinese coastal province of Fujian. Soundings appear around the Pescadores, along the west coast of Taiwan, and extend to the Chinese coast. Cartographically Valentijn based this map on the 1640 manuscript (hand drawn) map of Formosa drawn by Johannes Vingboones. Vingboons based his famous map upon information gleaned during the brief Dutch occupation of Formosa between 1624 and 1662. At the time, and today, Vingboons' manuscript is the best early map of Taiwan or Formosa to survive. No doubt, when Valentijn prepared to publish his Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien this was also the case. While Valentijn's map closely follows the more decorative work of Vingboons, it is not a slavish copy. Significant new information is has been added to the north and northeastern parts of the island - doubtless extracted from additional information derived from now unknown charts. Moreover, some of the soundings have been revised or updated. https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/taiwanformosa-valentijn-1726 #geographicus #raremap #raremaps #antiquemaps #antiquemap #taiwan #taiwanmap #formosa (at Geographicus Rare Antique Maps)
