Nova Belgica and Anglia Nova
Nova Belgica et Anglia Nova is a map first published in Amsterdam in 1635 by the Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu . The map shows the Nieuw Nederland territory on the east coast of North America, which was claimed by the Dutch in the 17th century .
History of origin
Blaeu first published the map in 1635 in the second volume of his famous Atlas Novus . Blaeu used the new France map of Samuel de Champlains from 1613, a map by Joannes de Laets published in 1630 and a hand-drawn map by Adriaen Block , who after 1609 was one of the first Dutch to visit the mouth of the Hudson River several times and the geographic conditions, served as templates for Blaeu so knew from my own experience.
description
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In contrast to most of the early maps, the original 30 × 50.6 cm map is oriented not to the east or north, but to the west. The scale is given in German miles .
The title of the card is in a cartouche framed by two Indians on the right side. At the head of the cartridge is the coat of arms of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , a standing lion with seven arrows in its left claw. Each arrow stands for one of the Dutch provinces. The coat of arms is also a reference to the function of the map: it manifested the claim of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands to the area shown.
The same applies to the frame, which shows the longitude and latitude and is an important part of the map. The Dutch claimed precisely the area between the 40th and 45th parallel for themselves. With the addition of the degree information on the map, the claim to the represented territory was further substantiated.
The representation of the colony of Nieuw Nederland
The area shown stretches from the Delaware River (Zuyd Rivier) to Nouvelle France (Nova Francia) and is framed by English territory both in the north and in the south. In the west, the St. Lawrence River (De groote Rivier van Nieu Nederlandt) borders the colony. The Spanish name of the ocean on the left side of the map as Mar del Nort is striking .
The Hudson River, discovered by Henry Hudson and later named after him, appears on the map as Noord Rivier and under the name Mauritius Rivier originally chosen by Hudson . Hudson, who was in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) at the time of his trip to North America , had named the river after Moritz of Orange , governor of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in 1609, when he was discovered .
The islands Adriaen Block Eylandt and Hendrick Christiaens Eylandt (today's Noman's Island), named after the participants of the first voyages made between 1611 and 1614, are also highlighted .
Indians and beavers: the economic aspect
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The interest of the Dutch in the area they settled was purely economic. When Henry Hudson returned to Europe from his voyage of discovery in 1609, the Amsterdam merchants were so electrified by the prospect of the lucrative fur trade that several competing companies sent ships to the Hudson Estuary. At the time the card was created, the fur trade was the most important economic factor in the Nieuw Nederlands.
Blaeu emphasized this aspect by showing two canoes with Indians - the fur suppliers of the Dutch - off the coast and placing beavers and otters in several places on the map. Today's Ellis Island appears on the map under the name Oesters Eylandt and thus refers to its function as the most important transhipment point for the furs traded by the Indians for mussel strings.
Limits of knowledge
The display errors contained in the map show that the geographic knowledge of the American east coast was still insufficient in Blaeu's time. For example, the location of today's Lake Champlain (Lacus Irocoisiensis) does not match its actual location, because Blaeu here obviously followed Samuel de Champlain's representation from 1613.
The territory west of the St. Lawrence River represented a terra incognita for the Dutch . Like many other early modern cartographers, Blaeu used a device to hide his lack of geographical knowledge. Instead of leaving the area free, he placed the cartouche and an oversized Indian palisade village in this part of the map, thereby covering the areas that he could not depict in detail.
literature
- John Goss: The mapping of North America: three centuries of map-making, 1500-1860. Secaucus, NJ 1990, ISBN 1-555-21672-2 , p. 68.
- Peter CJ van der Krogt (Ed.): Koeman's atlantes Neerlandici. Volume 2: The folio atlases published by Willem Jansz. Blaeu and Joan Blaeu. 't Goy-Houten 2000, ISBN 90-6194-438-4 , p. 96.
Web links
- Fordham University Libraries - Maps of New Netherland, New Amsterdam, and New England - further contemporary map representations Nieuw Nederlands
