The Description of the Coast of Guinea, Manicongo, and Angola, and So Proceeding Forwards Beyond the Cape of Good Hope, With All the Harbors, Islands, Cliffs, Sandbars, and Shallows. (Typus Orarum Maritimarum Guineae, Manicongo, & Angôlae Ultra Promo...

Old map of Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa.

1611) spent five years in the "Portuguese State of India" and its capital at Goa in the 1580s. There he learned the safe navigation routes to Asia, which the Portuguese treated as closely guarded national secrets in order to protect their monopoly on trade with the Spice Islands. The Amsterdam bookseller, printer, and publisher Cornelis Claesz recognized the potential in Van Linschoten's knowledge of the East, and helped him to produce the three books of the Itinerario. Claesz supplemented the narrative with maps by well-known cartographers, such as the map shown here, superbly engraved in the Flemish style by Florent van Langren. The scale is in German miles and Spanish leagues. It includes coastal views of the South Atlantic islands of Ascension and Saint Helena within a strapwork cartouche at the bottom of the map and two compass roses. The title cartouche is decorated with birds, fruit, and scroll-work. The sea is decorated with ships and a sea monster, the land with animals and mythical creatures. The map shows the western coast of Africa from the Gulf of Guinea to just beyond the Cape of Good Hope, with excellent detail along the coastline.

Created by Arnold Florent Van Langren, Jan Huygen Van Linschoten in 1596.

• Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
• "Scale about 1:13,000,000"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
• Original resource extent: 1 map : hand colored ; 39 x 53 centimeters.
• Original resource at: Qatar National Library.
• Content in English and Latin.
• Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Map Tags

1596

Angola

Arnold Florent Van Langren

Benin

Cameroon

Cape Of Good Hope Region (South Africa)

Coastlines

Congo

Côte D'Ivoire

Democratic Republic Of The Congo

Equatorial Guinea

Exploration And Encounters

Gabon

Ghana

Jan Huygen Van Linschoten

Map

Namibia

Nigeria

South Africa