Name/TitleNova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula
About this objectMatthaus Merian, was a publisher and engraver renowned for his town views. This world map from his Neuwe Archontologia Cosmica is presented on Mercator’s projection and is closely copied from Blaeu’s world map of 1606. Germanic script for the text is used and the Latin title is repeated in Gothic script below.
The seas are decorated with ships, compass roses and galleons. The lower corners have insets of the north and south poles.
Noted at the top of the map is the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus’s in 1492 and Terra Australis Incognito is shown as extending along the entire lower area of the map. The naming of Beach the northern tip of Terra Incognito, can be traced back to Fine’s 1532 world map which was based on information of Marco Polo’s incorrectly scribed accounts.
MakerMatthaus Merian - Engraver
Maker RoleEngraver
Date Madec1646
Period17th century
Place MadeFrankfurt
Medium and MaterialsPaper, ink. Hand coloured copper engraving.
Measurements245mm × 350mm
Object TypeMaps and Charts
Object numberSF000821
Copyright Licence
Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
Explore by category
Maps and Charts
Date range: 1541-1836
Ship Models
Date range: 1629-1890
Maritime Paintings
Date range: 1793-1849
Manuscripts and Ephemera
Date range: 1768-c1850
Medallions & Convict Tokens
Date range: 1619-1880
Indigenous History
Date range: c1800-1959
Landscapes
Date range: 1768-c1850
Books
Date range: 1694-c1850
Currency and Shares
Date range: 1624-1823
Printed Material
Date range: 1541-1836
Maritime Archaeology
Date range: 1629-1854
Curator's corner
New acquisitions, staff favourites and curios
The mug is decorated with an underglaze and a blue transfer print. On the body, it is titled ‘Emigrants to Australia’. This type of body and glaze was discontinued by 1840. Comparison of the handle shape and the profile of the foot, point to the attribution of manufacture by the Davenport Factory.
Delta was a ship-rigged vessel with two decks and three masts. It was built in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1839 at the shipyard of Jan Schouten and registered in the same port. Its hull was constructed of oak and sheathed in ‘yellow metal’. Delta was owned by H. van der Sande at the time of its loss and was engaged as a cargo trader.
The Delta carried 29 crew and passengers, while sailing from Melbourne to Batavia in ballast when wrecked at Kenn Reefs on 30 May 1854 whilst under the command of Captain J.G. Kunst. This vessel loss supports the pattern of shipwrecks located on a well-travelled shipping route that was poorly charted until the mid-nineteenth century. The crew of the Delta could see four other shipwrecks at Kenn Reefs at the time of their vessel’s loss.
Important image of a ship associated with Matthew Flinders, that would shortly become one of the most famous early shipwrecks in eastern Australian waters. This is a fine ship’s portrait, by one of the great exponents of the art