India Orientalis

1625

Original hand-coloured engraving on paper

Print size: 11.25 x 7.25 in (28.4 x 18.5 cm)
Sheet size: 12.75 x 8 in (32.3 x 20.3 cm)

Jodocus Hondius (attributed), India Orientalis—From the 1625–26 Edition of Purchas His Pilgrims

This finely engraved early seventeenth-century map of the East Indies, attributed to Jodocus Hondius, presents a European cartographic vision shaped by maritime expansion, commercial ambition, and the consolidation of travel intelligence in the age of global exploration. Extending from the Indian subcontinent through Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and the Indonesian archipelago, the map reflects contemporary English and Dutch interests in the Indian Ocean and East Indies trade networks.

The engraving displays features characteristic of the Hondius workshop, including dense toponymy, stylised mountain chains, and a decorative strapwork cartouche bearing the title India Orientalis. The sheet is preserved within English printed text headed “Hondius his Map of the East Indies” and originates from the 1625–26 edition of Samuel Purchas’ Purchas His Pilgrims—one of the most important English-language travel compilations of the early seventeenth century.

Purchas’ monumental work assembled narratives of exploration, commerce, and ethnographic observation into a foundational corpus that shaped English geographic knowledge and imperial imagination. Within this context, maps served not merely as geographic references but as visual instruments of trade advocacy, colonial ambition, and intellectual authority. The present example thus occupies a dual significance: as a Hondius-derived cartographic artefact and as a documentary witness to England’s expanding engagement with global trade and world description.

Surviving examples in Purchas context are comparatively uncommon, enhancing bibliographic, scholarly, and collector interest.

NON-EXPORTABLE

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