Atlas minor sive geographia compendiosa, qua orbis terrarum per paucas attamen novissimas tabulas ostenditur
EX-COLL. AMSTERDAM MARITIME COLLEGE
Amsterdam: Nicolaes Visscher II [and Elizabeth Visscher], [ca. 1696–1704].
Folio (20 11/16” x 13 3 /16”, 525mm x 335mm): 2 binder’s blanks, π1 (title, blank), 2 binder’s blanks. With an engraved title, 4 engraved double-page tables and 137 charts, of which 125 are double-page and 12 folding.
Bound in later (1930’s?) half red morocco over marbled boards, with a blind roll at the edges. On the spine, five raised bands. Title gilt to green sheep in the second panel, author gilt to the fourth panel.
Rubbed at the extremities. Pigment-burn to the versos throughout. Repaired tears and splits, with some splits at areas of heavy pigment-burn. Each chart numbered verso in an old hand, 1-127 and 129-142 with an empty guard where 128 would be (likely a map of Asia). Dutch gift inscription in ink to the (modern) first binder’s blank, dated 24 October 1935.
The firm of Visscher — its great progenitor being Claes Janszoon (1587–1652), then continuing to his son Nicolaes I (1618–1679) and grandson Nicolaes II (1649–1702), the publisher of the present volume — is in the very first rank of the golden age of Dutch cartography. After the death of Nicolaes II, his widow Elisabeth carried his work forward, eventually selling the plates to Peter Schenk Jr. (1693–1775), a Dutch-born dealer of German (Leipzig) parentage. Visscher maps are distinguished by their accuracy and by the allegorical charm of their cartouches and other figures.
Visscher was a bookseller as well as a cartographer-publisher, and so the atlases that come out of his press are often composite, inasmuch as they could fluctuate by the availability of the charts (including those made by others; Visscher issued 77 of the maps in the present atlas; 35 are by de Wit, 10 by Allard, 3 by Blaeu, 2 by Homann) at that particular moment, as well as the demands (budget, interests) of the individual purchaser. Partly for this reason, the atlases of Nicolaes II do not have dates on their title-pages, allowing for a range of maps to be issued under the same aegis. The present atlas contains (inter alia): a world map; 120 maps of Europe, particularly of Germany (31), France (19) and the Netherlands (18); 7 maps of Asia; 6 maps of the Americas; and 3 maps of Africa.
The present atlas was issued when Elizabeth, widow of Nicolaes II, was running the enterprise; Koeman’s account of these atlases (vol. III, Vis 20-Vis 30) records, generally, far fewer mapsheets than are found here (on average 101). The latest map here being the battle of Blenheim (13 August 1704), the atlas was likely compiled in 1704 or 1705; Koeman records no map of that date with more mapsheets. Of particular note is the full and rich coloring of the maps throughout, including quite painterly effects in both charts and views. Broadly, color of this quality could cost as much as or more than the printed atlas itself.
The gift inscription — the donor probably Johannes Willem de Roever,[1] an Oud Kweekeling, or “old Kweekschooler” — is to the Kweekschool voor de Zeevaart in Amsterdam, which was founded in 1785 to educate the orphans of Dogger Bank, a bloody battle of the fourth Anglo-Dutch War in 1781. It was the first European maritime school to board its students. The gift of the atlas was made in honor of the school’s 150th anniversary, at which point it had transitioned from preparing students principally for the navy to positioning for commercial piloting. 165 alumni (their association is the Vereeniging van Oud Kweekelingen or VOK) of the school gathered for a gala at the Hotel Krasnapolsky on the 24th of October 1935, at which the present volume was surely presented. De Roever (1884–1955) was a distinguished naval and merchant marine officer, who came to New York to retrieve ships seized in the course of the First World War. His connection to the city continued as founder of the Dutch Indies department of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in New York. Among his many publications are historical accounts of Dutch exploration, in whose publication the present atlas was surely indispensable.
Cf. Koeman III.Vis 22; cf. Shirley, BL T.VIS–3a.
[1] Sincere thanks to Mr. Marco Jacques, secretary of the VOK, who carried out the research in the society’s archives.
Item #JLR0678
Price: $165,000