
1642–1644
Hollandia Nova detecta by Melchisedech Thevenot

Melchisedech Thevenot (1620–1692)
Hollandia Nova detecta 1644, Terre
Australe decouuerte l'an 1644
engraving; 50.0 x 37.0 cm
Paris: De l’imprimerie de Iaqves Langlois, 1663
State Library of South
Australia
This map from French scientist Melchisedech Thevenot's 1663 travel anthology showed Dutch discoveries up to 1644, making them known to the wider public for the first time. Thevenot's map is significant, not only in that it charts Tasman's voyages, but also because it maps the known Australian continent as a whole. This would remain unchanged and recognisable until the voyages of Captain James Cook more than a century later.
This is the first state of this map of Australia, with incomplete south and east coast, and part of the Tasmanian coastline. New Zealand and New Guinea are incomplete.
