Friesland – Covens & Mortier, after 1721

“Tabula Comitatus Frisiae” with an inset of a small “Perfecte Caerte van de Vriese Eylanden” (Perfect Map of the Frisian Islands), copper engraving first published by Frederick de Wit around 1665, here in an edition by Johannes Covens and Cornelis Mortier from after 1721. With original hand colouring. Size: 46 × 55.5 cm.

Frederick de Wit (1629/30-1706) worked from 1648 onward in Amsterdam at the Kalverstraat under the sign “In de Witte Pascaert” (At the White Chart). By the end of the seventeenth century, he was an important publisher there, who also engraved maps himself. His maps never have text on the reverse side, and his atlases almost never include a publication year. In 1689, he obtained a privilege from the “Heeren Staten van Holland en West-Friesland” (Lords States of Holland and West Friesland) to publish his atlases.

In his early years, De Wit mainly published maps made using copperplates from other makers, which he had purchased at auctions.

After his death, the business was continued by his widow until 1709, after which many of the maps and copperplates were sold at a 1710 auction, where they were acquired by Pieter van der Aa and Pieter Mortier, who generally reissued them unchanged. Eventually, part of this collection came into the hands of the publishers Covens & Mortier, and in 1735, to the Ottens brothers.

This map by De Wit is based on the work of the Frisian cartographer Bernhardus Schotanus à Sterringa. In 1644, Christiaan Schotanus published his “Beschrijvinge van de Heerlijckheydt van Friesland tussen ‘t Flie ende Lauwers” (Description of the Lordship of Friesland between the Vlie and the Lauwers), which included a map of the province, three maps of the goën (regional divisions), thirty grietenij (district) maps, and eleven town plans.

There is much similarity with a map by Nicolaes Visscher — this map seems to be quite precisely copied; the number of houses at the villages and the number of trees is often the same. The scale bar is identical, only placed in a different location. The approximately 1,500 place names also match those on Visscher’s map.

Literature: P.J. de Rijke (2006) “Frisia Dominium. Kaarten van de provincie Friesland tot 1850”, map no. 47.6

Price: Euro 325,-