The Asia-Pacific at the JCBLMain MenuThe Asia-Pacific on the Shelves of the John Carter Brown LibraryBibliography of texts, maps, and manuscriptsThe Fifteenth CenturyThe Age of Columbus and Vasco de GamaSixteenth Century EncountersThe Eighteenth CenturyAn age of enlightenment and empireThe Nineteenth CenturyModernity and Mature CapitalismVoyage and ExplorationThe Asia-Pacific in MapsDevelopments in cartography and seagoing exploration intertwined to form the sinews of early modern global connectedness.The Jesuits in East AsiaBooks by Spanish AuthorsBooks in English by British AuthorsDescriptions of ChinaJapanTexts printed in or describing JapanCaroline Franka1a5e7e9a2c3dba76ecb2896a93bf66ac8d1635e
The Seventeenth Century
1media/SmithVirginiaChina1651.jpg2016-01-15T15:31:05-08:00Caroline Franka1a5e7e9a2c3dba76ecb2896a93bf66ac8d1635e53986An age of rogues and adventurers on the high seas.image_header2018-05-30T20:07:25-07:00Caroline Franka1a5e7e9a2c3dba76ecb2896a93bf66ac8d1635eThis is an era in Europe of “exotic geography,” according to art historian Benjamin Schmidt. The English East India Company formed in 1600, the Dutch Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie in 1602, and then the 1648 Peace of Westfalia allowed easier travel. A tidal wave of images, detailed accounts, and commodities from the East Indies drenched one end of Europe to the other, enticing botanists to capitalists, linguists to princesses. Architecture, ethnography, history, navigation routes, mercantile tips, and poetic interpretations of East Asia and the Spice Islands were readily available in print. There was a universal thirst for accessible knowledge, fulfillment of dreams, and enjoyment in the exotic.