Bird's eye view of the 1740 Batavia massacre.

French and Dutch title under the print. Verso blank. Hand-coloured copper engraving by Jacobus van der Schley, published in 1763 in The Hague by Pieter de Hondt in Vies des governors généraux, avec l'abrégé de l'histoire des etablissemens Hollandois aux Indes Orientales; (.), J.P.L. du Bois.

The image is a reduced copy of an unobtainable large broadsheet of 1741 by artist Adolf van der Laan.

The view is also the most detailed early view of Batavia, showing the city center with canals and canal houses. North is at the left, where the back entrance of Batavia castle can be seen with the warehouses. On the far right the City Hall and the Portuguese church are visible. On the top of the view is citadel Rotterdam, the eastern entrance to the city. Chinatown is in the foreground, with the house of the Captain of the Chinese in the lower right. He tried to escape in womans' dress but was recognized and captured.

Condition

Thick paper with wide margins. Strong and even impression of the copperplate. Mint condition.

Transcription and translation of the title

Afbeelding van dat gedeelte van BATAVIA, alwaar eigentlyk de Schrikkelyke Slagting der CHINEZEN geschied is, den 9. Octob. 1740.

Image of that part of BATAVIA, where the terrible massacre of the CHINESE actually took place, on October 9, 1740.

Antique maps of the East India Company
Old Master Prints
Antique maps of China
Antique maps of Southeast Asia