In a magnificent vignette on this map, Lopo vaz de Sampaio, governor of Portuguese India from 1526-1529, appears to be shown en route to his new posting discussing plans for sharing the bounty of the Moluccas, with representatives of New Spain…

In 1526 tensions between Spain and Portugal were greatly reduced when Charles V of Spain married Isabella of Portugal, and signed a new treaty with Portugal, creating an antimerdianal line, in Zaragoza in 1529. Portugal "paid Spain 350,000 ducats for the Moluccas, and, to prevent further Spanish encroachment, the new line of demarcation was established almost three hundred leagues (or 17°) to the east of these islands. Portugal got control of all of the lands to the west of the line, including Asia, and Spain received most of the Pacific Ocean. Spain's argument that the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world into two equal hemispheres was not recognized in the Treaty of Saragossa: Portugal's share was approximately 191°, whereas Spain's was roughly 169°, with a variation of about ±4° owing to the uncertainty of the location of the Tordesillas line. Spanish interest in the Philippines, shown by the new treaty to be on the Portugal side of the line, would become an issue in the later decades of the sixteenth century" (Princeton University online).

Australia appears roughly as Abel Tasman charted it in 1644.

Pieter van der Aa's map was first published to illustrate his 'Staatsugtige Scheeps- Togten en Krygs- Bedryven Ter handhaving van der Portugysen Opper-Bestier in Oost- Indien Door Don Lopo vaz de Sampayo 1526', from his compendium of voyages 'Naaukeurige Versameling der Gedenk-Waardigste Zee en Land-Reysen' (1707).

The mapmaker
Pieter van der Aa (1659-1733) was a Dutch publisher and printer. He entered the booksellers guild in Leiden in 1677, and started his first business there in 1683. By 1694 he was made printer to Leiden University, and by 1715, he was appointed the official printer to the town. He was best known for his cartographic work, but also produced a range of pirated copies of foreign bestsellers. He had a distinctive and elegant style, and his works were highly sought after. In spite of the plagiaries, Aa sustained beneficial working relationships with foreign booksellers like Thomas Bennet in England, who helped him sell stock. He produced a series of atlases and collections of voyages composed of plates acquired from other cartographers. His career culminated with the publication of his illustrated atlas of the world, the 'Galerie Agreable du Monde', the largest book of prints ever published. The 'Galerie' did not just cover geography, but also included more than three thousand plates of native peoples, architecture and historical events from around the world, and was issued in an astonishing 66 parts. Most of the plates were by other contemporary publishers, to which van der Aa added his signature broad decorative borders. A complete copy of the 'Galerie' cost the equivalent of a master craftsman's annual salary.