"Guinea" by Joan Blaeu: 17th Century Map of Western Coast of Africa

When first looking at this map of the Western Coast of Africa, the viewer is struck by the precision and decoration. Upon close examination, it becomes apparent that the map not only serves a functional guide to West African geography, but also acts as propaganda—enticing Dutch traders to explore the wealthy coast.

This map, titled “Guinea” was created in 1662 by Joan Blaeu, the chief cartographer for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The VOC was a joint stock company that established ports all over Asia and Africa, and was a dominant trader in Asia and Africa in the 17^th century. Because Blaeu constructed his maps with the intentions of selling them to wealthy patrons, he wanted to make them appealing and desirable to consumers. This explains why the map is not only incredibly accurate, but also includes excellent topography, bold color and other decorative features.

The most striking feature of the map is the thin, precise lines. Though the border lines of the interior of Western Africa are also fairly accurate, the detail of the coast is exceptional. It seems that every inlet, small peninsula, and island is marked. Though the writing is too small to be deciphered, Blaeu looks to have marked various ports and rivers. The cartographer probably included so much detail on the coast because most of the coastline depicted in the map is “Slave Coast”, “The Gold Coast”, or “The Ivory Coast”—all large, lucrative trades. Blaeu’s intended audience (wealthy patrons and traders) would have been very concerned with these areas—which the map promises them lots of profits. They were probably less concerned with the interior of Western Africa, which is why there is much less detail in that area. For example, the borders between countries are crafted with much thicker ink and are therefore less precise. Also, the labeling is much more scarce on the interior than on the coastline.

Another very interesting feature of this 17^th century map is the detailed, colored illustrations. In West Central Africa, Blaeu includes African Elephants and in the bottom corners of the map he also includes lions, monkeys and leopards. The animals on the map seem to be engraved with just as much precision as the geographic features. At the center of the map are the African Elephants drawn on such a large scale that they almost dominate the map. At the bottom right corner of the map, there are Africans depicted holding a large elephant trunk. Though other animals are included in the image, they are pushed to the background and are seemingly less important. Blaeu probably emphasized and over exaggerated the presence of elephants in Western Africa in an attempt to excite his audience. By including such detail of the Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and showing pictures of elephant trunks, the image would seem enticing to wealthy traders of the VOC.

Also illustrated on a larger-than-life scale are the European style ships, which are sailing about the coast. The ships are included in the image also to appeal to the audience—to inspire wealthy traders to embark on a voyage to the West African coast, where they could find many precious goods.