Exceptionally rare sea chart of the waters around Amoy and Quemoy, issued in 1714 in Leiden by Pieter van der Aa. The map is of medium size and is famous for its decorative and spectacular title cartouche and improved geography of the area.

The title cartouche shows navigational instruments, and the famous pirate Koxinga who managed to conquer Formosa from the Dutch.

The map only occurs in the exceptionally rare Galeries Agreeables series.

The map is not in any regular van der Aa atlas and is of utmost rarity.

Pristine copy, from a de luxe plano binding (i.e. bound with no centrefold). Stunning original colour.

Records show that van der Aa, born in Leiden in 1659, made an early start in life by being apprenticed to a bookseller at the age of nine and starting his own in business as a book publisher by the time he was twenty-three.

During the following fifty years he published an enormous amount of material including atlases and illustrated works in every shape and size, two of them consisting of no less than 27 and 28 volumes containing over 3,000 maps and plates.

(Moreland & Bannister).

Antique maps of China
Old books, maps and prints by Pieter van der Aa