官許 新刊輿地全圖 [Kankyo shinkan yochi zenzu] [Officially Licenced New Map of the World]

Edo (Tokyo), Japan : 萬屋兵四郎 [Yorozuya Heishirō], [1862] (Bunkyū 2). Hand coloured woodblock print, original cloth covers and paper portfolio, both with title labels (portfolio with some silverfishing and lacking left-hand flap), map with some foxing and silverfishing, repaired with Japanese tissue. A detailed map of the world on Mercator’s projection bordered by vibrantly coloured national flags.

The explanatory notes by the editor 佐藤政養 [Satō Masayasu], indicate this edition was based on the 1857 Dutch publication Wereldkaart, naar en met de lasste ontdekkings-reizen, opgedragen aan de Nederlandsche Handelmaatschaapij by bookseller C.F. Stemler. Masayasu (1821-77) was a scholar of the Dutch language in the late Edo period and a railway engineer in the early Meiji period.

Australia is labelled as “New Holland”, with the colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia shown, the remainder branded “Colonies not clear.” The text includes some descriptions of discoveries of northern and western Australia by European navigators: “In 1606 a Dutch Willem Janszoon navigated the ship Duyfken and arrived at Australia for the first time”; “Eendrachtsland [after Hartog’s ship], in 1616 discovered by Dirk Hartog”.