SYDNEY – A 17th century map of Australia, predating British settlement, has gone on display for the first time after suffering extensive damage while purportedly housed for hundreds of years in a Swedish warehouse.
The map, which was once so fragile restoration experts refrained from even breathing on it, is one of just two known wall maps of Australia to have survived the 350 years since being created during the period of Dutch exploration and mapping.
The map is known as the “Birth certificate of New Holland” and is on display at the National Library of Australia in Canberra.
Created by Joan Blaeu, chief cartographer for the Dutch East India Company, in 1663, the map was displayed briefly in Australia in 2013 when staff did not dare breathe near it lest it crumbled to pieces.
National Library of Australia manager of preservation Denyl Cloughley said it took two and a half years to restore, including the removal of varnish which had corroded into a brown crust and was “literally eating away at the paper”.
