Reference
WY891
Title
Map, printed, of “Neobelgium”, by Reinier and Josua Ottens, Amsterdam; coloured; inset panorama of New Amsterdam or New York.
Date free text
1711-1740
Production date
From: 1711 To: 1740
Scope and Content
Coloured; 18 by 21 inches; no scale. From “Atlas Minor” (various editions, 1695-1756; this circa 1732?).
Roughly from the St. Laurence river north to Chesapeake Bay South, and extends east enough to show part of Virginia.
Shows Indian tribes, fauna etc. Allegorical picture entitled “Restitutio”. The view of New York is headed “Nieuw Amsterdam onlangs Nieuw Jorck genamt, ende hernomen by de Nederlanders op den 24 August 1673, eindel yk aan de Engelse weder afgestaan,” and various buildings A-T are named (e.g. “A – Fort Orangieensche”).
Endorsement: (early 18th century hand) “A Dutch Map which contains the Names both of Cape Cornelius and Cape Hinlopen” (see also WY874) (in same hand as endorsement on WY876).
Archival history
Information supplied by the Library of Congress, Map Division, 1958:
This map is one of a series which began about 1656 with N.J. Visscher’s “Novi Belgii Novaeque Angliae nec non Partis Virginiae Tabula.”
The first printing of this particular map was that by Hugo Allardt in 1673 (the sixth of the series, but the first to use the Romeyn de Hooghe view). The same plate was used for two editions by his son Charles (Carolus): the second of theses (after 1690) included a number of additions such as the words “ eindelijk . . . afgestaan” (the city had been permanently recaptured from the Dutch in 1674).
The map in this state was reprinted by Joachim Ottens (active 1677-1711), and again by his sons, Reinier and Josua, who took over the business after his death. In each case no change was made except the insertion of the Ottens’ names in the vignette surrounding the view.
The Reinier and Josua Ottens map is therefore the fifth use of the same plate and the third printing without change (apart from the names). It was made between 1711 and about 1740.
The series continued till T.C. Lotter’s “Recens Edita Totius Novi Belgii in America Septentrionali”, mid-eighteenth century.
(See:
G. M. Asher, A Bibliographical and Historical Essay on the Dutch Books and Pamphlets relating to New-Netherland; Amsterdam, Frederick Muller, 1854-67.
I.N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909.
P.L. Phillips, A List of Geographical Atlases in the Library of Congress; Washington, Government Printing Office, 1920.)
The Library of Congress has a copy of both Ottens’ issues, and Harvard University has a copy of the latter. The Library of Congress “Atlas Minor” has no watermarks on the maps.
Level of description
item