To the south the Dutch colony of Nieu Amstel.

novi belgi

Novi Belgii novae que Angliae nec non partis Virginiae.. VISSCHER, N. (Amsterdam, 1684) 465 x 555 mm / 18.3 x 21.9 inches.

The map's publication was motivated by the recent establishment of a Dutch Colony in the New World and Dutch aspirations to retain their New Netherland colony.
As such its advanced geography, based on the 1651 map of Jansson, was of paramount importance to the colony, which needed to make plainly known its vulnerability to English attack. British settlements and Indian villages are recorded, and vignettes illustrate fauna and Indian fortifications. Visscher's map of the Northeast is among the sought after regional maps.

In 1655, Visscher utilized Jansson's map, with its vignettes of animals and Indian life, and added this now famous view of New Amsterdam, showing the Battery and Dutch buildings on the waterfront. An extensive study of the map by Stokes suggests that the view was drawn sometime between 1653 and 1655, prior to the construction of New York's wall.

The third state with Fort Kassimier and Philadelphia and nearby placenames added. To the south the Dutch colony of Nieu Amstel. New nomenclature and a key appear around the month of the Hudson River. PENN-SYL-VA-NIA and NIEW JORCK also appear.


A classic Dutch map of the east coast from the Chesapeake Bay north to Canada with the famous view of Manhattan (the third printed view), and the first to include various features. Indigenous animals and Indian encampments are shown in the interior, but the best known aspect of this map is the panorama of Nieuw Amsterdam , in the bottom right-hand corner of the engraving. It shows the original Dutch settlement, looking very like a typical Low Country city with a windmill, pointed gables etc.

Price US$ 5750

Editions

The first edition of the map (1655-56) is extremely rare and known in only a handful of copies, one of which was used to illustrate the boundary dispute between William Penn and Lord Baltimore. The map is also of great importance as the only reasonably obtainable example of the map during the first Dutch Colonization of the region, prior to their defeat by the English.
The second edition (circa 1656) includes Fort Kasimer.
The third edition was issued in 1684 and shows Philadelphia for the first time. The fourth edition, with the added priviledge language to the right of the New York view, was also issued in 1684.
The fifth edition bears the imprint of Petr Schenk Iun (circa 1729).