In 1649 Claes Jansz. Visscher reissued and expanded the work of Barent Langenes’s 1598 Caert-Thresoor (#285, #294, #295, #296, #383, #388) as Tabularum geographicarum contractarum libri quatuor denuo recogniti, a compact atlas divided into four parts: Europae, Asiae (titlepage, #10), Africae, and Americae nova descriptio. Alongside the inherited Langenes material, Visscher added twenty-three newly engraved maps including plates relating to recent Dutch discoveries in Australia and the East Indies (#11, #12, #371, #388). The atlas also incorporated revised versions of the earlier Hondius world maps #292, #293, and two maps by Benjamin Wright (this map and #369)
This engraving depicts the fortified settlement of Arosbaya (Civitas Madura dicta Arosbaya) on the island of Madura, off the north coast of Java. It was engraved by Benjamin Wright around 1601, shortly after the return of the second Dutch voyage to the East Indies (1598–1600), led by Jacob van Neck with Wybrand van Warwijck as vice-admiral. Although produced in connection with the publication of the voyage account (for the 1609 French title page see #380), the plate does not appear in surviving copies of the journals issued in 1601 and is first recorded in Visscher’s 1649 atlas.
Although engraved in 1601 in connection with the publication of the account of the second Dutch voyage (for the 1609 French title page see #380), the plate does not appear in surviving copies of the journals printed that year. It is first found in Visscher’s 1649 atlas.
Unlike the Ternate–Tidore plate (#369), which is primarily coastal and navigational, this image functions as a prospect view combining topography and narrative. The walled city dominates the upper portion of the composition, rendered schematically with continuous defensive walls and densely arranged buildings, emphasising both fortification and urban concentration. The inscription Hic est insula ubi detinebatur captivus (“Here is the place where the captive was held”) refers to the detention of a local ruler, situating the scene within a specific episode of early Dutch engagement in the region.
In the foreground, Dutch ships lie anchored offshore, with longboats moving between ship and shore. Small figures are shown loading or unloading goods, reinforcing the commercial focus of the image. The labels Statio (guard station) and Repagulum portus (harbour barrier or defensive works) identify key military positions along the waterfront. Together, these elements indicate that the plate records not merely a town view but a site of strategic and logistical importance during the early phase of Dutch expansion along the north coast of Java.
Peter van der Krogt, ed., Koeman’s Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. 3 (’t Goy-Houten: HES & De Graaf, 1997–), map 8150:341:54
Günter Schilder, Monumenta cartographica Neerlandica, vol. 7 (Canaletto, 2003), 484-488