In the seventeenth century, the Netherlands was actively engaged in exploration, colonization, and trade throughout all regions of the globe, and Dutch publishers were busy keeping up with a growing internal demand for travel accounts, illustrations, and maps. This map of Japan, published for the first time in 1715, shows one of Holland's newest commercial partners.
Wow, this is really cool. I recommend the fictional book 'The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet' by David Mitchell about the Dutch port in Nagasaki in the 17th C (0:25), it's fantastic.
alltonic 1 week ago