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(VOC) 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.

L'Ile de Formosa,...

This unusual map (13 5/8" X 11 5/16") was prepared for inclusion in the 1729 "Les voyages du Sieur Albert de Mandeslo".
The same map was reused in several publications, notably by the Van der Keulen for their VOC atlas.
It shows the south west part of Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands.
Fascinating nautical details: sand bars, reefs, and water depths surrounding the dutch stronghold of Fort Zelandia, shown on the map as Tayovan, i.e. Taiwan.
Other colonization efforts are also shown; farms and forts along the coast of the bay. But strangely enough the forts and settlements previously used by the dutch on the Pescadores are not shown.. may be because they were dismantled, and their building materials had been reused on Taiwan when the colonists were forced to move.
Interestingly, the elevation view of the approach to the harbor is detailed so as to help seafarers reach safely the anchorage.
No text on verso.