Controlling these waters meant gaining unfettered access to the riches of the East. It tells a riveting account of the battle fought in 1603 for the Dutch and Portuguese armies who wanted to expand their trading territories. Gotthard Athus, an associate of the De Bry publishing house. The description of the battle itself can be found from the cartouche description (on the middle left side) of the map that broadly corresponds to the more substantial account compiled by M. 2 Other places shown in the map are Pedro Blanca (Pedra Branca), Bintam (Pulau Bintan), Oudt Ior (Johor Lama), and Rio de Batusabar (Johor River). The east and western entrances to the Tebrau, or Johor Strait, are marked as river estuaries, with the eastern portion of Pulau Ubin clearly visible. A compass rose is located above Carimon Island (Pulau Karimun in the Riau Islands of present-day Indonesia). Naval vessels are marked from A to O, with Roman numerals at several places in the sea marking the depth of the water. The map itself has no title, except for a long description in German describing the various stages of the fearsome battle. The map is a vivid depiction of a battle that occurred between the two European powers on the eastern coast of Singapore, off Pedra Branca, and along the north shore of Batam island. Purchased in 2007, the map is roughly the size of one and a half sheets of A4 paper, and was originally published in a book. After the death of Theodor, his sons, Johann Theodor and Johann Israel, continued to add on to the works of their father, which included the publication of this engraved map. They were known for publishing accounts of foreign lands, including Theodor de Bry’s Grands Voyages and Petits Voyages, which covered 16th-century voyages and travels to the Americas, East Indies and arctic regions. The map was created by the de Brys, who were a well-known Flemish family of cartographers, engravers and publishers based in Frankfurt, Germany. The 1606 engraving with a German title, Contrafactur des Scharmutz els der Hollender wider die Portigesen in dem Flus Balusabar, is one of the earliest maps in the collection that shows a distinct coastline of Singapore. And while most of this history has been lost over time, one record that tells of a particularly ferocious battle between the Dutch and Portuguese armadas in the early 17th century is found in the National Library. Image source: National Library Board, Singapore.įor a tiny island known more for its skyscrapers than its sea-faring adventures, Singapore has a surprisingly bloody history. This 1606 engraved map by the de Bry family is one of the earliest in the National Library’s Rare Materials Collection that shows a distinct coastline of Singapore.
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