The map was engraved by Joannes van Doetecum in 1594, as per the title and his inscription lower left, issued as a separate publication, probably in the following year, and was later included in Hugo van Linschoten’s travel work, the ‘Itinerario’ (1599).

This map is a compilation of several sources. The main source was most likely 

’ own wall map of the world issued in 1592, which first represented his new distinctive shape of North and South America. Plancius had acquired a collection of maps from the Portuguese mapmaker, Bartolomeu Lasso, which together with the maps of Luís Teixeira, gave him access to the geography of Asia and the Far East, allowing him to show a far more detailed geography of the region, including Japan and the portrayal of the Korean Peninsula on a map for the first time. 

His mapping of the North Pole was based on 

, showing it as four separate islands and with a clear delineation of the geographical misconceptions of the Northeast and the Northwest Passages just south of these ‘islands’. Plancius was a fervent advocate of commercial expansion to the East and kept abreast of searches for both passages. He was also known to have been a friend of Henry Hudson who later gave his name to Hudson Bay. 

The allegorical figures on the borders represent various landmasses known to Plancius. In time, these would be standardised to show the four known landmasses of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas but in this early case, the first three are labelled on the upper border but the lower border is dedicated to the 

, divided into the regions of Peruana, Magallanica and Mexicana, reflecting a lack of common conventions for the nomenclature at the time.

Double-page, hand-coloured, engraved copperplate double-hemisphere map of the world.

This highly decorative map was a sensation when it was released in 1594. It was the first time that a Dutch map had featured such elaborate illustrations. 

' extraordinary aesthetics were hugely popular and set the standard for most of the maps that followed from the Dutch Golden Age of 

.

The pictures surrounding this world map were inspired by images from Theodore de Bry, a German publisher. His popular ‘Big Voyages’ and ‘Small Voyages’ were accounts of European exploration in both the East and the West.

Shown here in beautiful original colour are allegorical figures of the landmasses known to Plancius. Europe, Africa, and Asia are depicted at the top of the map, and the 

 is depicted at the bottom. The detailed illustrations feature flora, fauna, and people from each landmass. Between the two hemispheres of the map are finely rendered diagrams of the northern and southern constellations.

This map was engraved in 1594 and marked a change in how Dutch map were decorated – particularly the inclusion of illustrated borders. Plancius was perhaps inspired by the images within the German publisher Theodore De Bry’s popular ‘Grand’ and ‘Petit Voyages’. His cartographic illustrations caused such a sensation that they became a standard feature on the majority of world maps during the Dutch Golden Age, which continued to build on the designs shown on the present map.



 was an original investor in the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and was their first hydrographer. He supplied them navigational charts and star charts that cited observations of pilots that led expeditions of the depicted routes. Plancius identified twenty new southern constellations, most of which were not adopted by other cartographers or astronomers. However, two of them are still referenced today: Monoceros (the Unicorn), and Camelopardalis (Giraffe). 

A highly decorative map, marking an extraordinary advance for the aesthetics of maps: the first time a Dutch map was surrounded by an illustrated border. These cartographic illustrations caused such a sensation and proved so popular that they became a standard feature on the majority of world maps during the Dutch Golden Age.

Plancius's World Map