Pieter van der Aa; 1659-1733.

Van der Aa, started his own book making shop in Leyden in 1672, publishing an enormous amount of materials. He did branch out seriously in the atlas business in 1707, probably on account of the strong interest for geography with the dutch public of that time. The golden age of the East India Company was over, but international trade was still a major economic trump for the Low Countries. His cartographic knowledge and skills were rather limited, but he borrowed extensively from the masters of the art. His maps were quite decorative, and made the success of "Atlas nouveau et curieux" in 1710, and above all of the 27 volume "La gallerie agréable du monde" in 1729.

Cuba en Jamaica, soo als die door Kolumbus ontdekt, en by de Kastilianen bevolkt syn.

This small map (8 5/8" X 5 7/8") was engraved for the 1707 "Cartes des itineraires et voyages modernes", a massive encyclopedic work of 28 volumes, replete with detailed maps of the itineraries of the great explorers.
The cartouche shows a portrait of Christopher Colombus (first westerner to see Cuba during his epic first voyage in 1492) framed by two puttis, or cherubs. Notice also the strange birds found in these new lands, and the net and bow used to capture or kill them.
The coast of south Florida is quite original (the "caio de dose leguas" has to be understood as Key Largo). In the Bahamas, the island of Guanahani (or St Salvador) is prominently shown since it is the spot of America where Colombus first landed.
In Cuba, it seems that the towns of Havana and Matanzas were competing for supremacy, while other towns are of lesser importance.
Notice that Jamaica, under british control, was much less documented than other island, not even showing its most important town: Port Royal.
No text on verso.