Friesland, Lemsterland- Wopke Eekhoff, 1853

“Gemeente Lemsterland (Voormalige Zesde Grietenij van Zevenwoude).” [Municipality of Lemsterland (Former Sixth Grietenij of Zevenwouden).] Large-format steel engraving made in 1853 by Daniel Veelwaard for Wopke Eekhoff’s Nieuwe Atlas van de Provincie Friesland. Coloured by a later hand . Size approx. 60 × 64 cm.

In the mid-19th century Lemsterland was an extensive rural municipality on the edge of the Zuiderzee, with Lemmer as its lively harbour town. From here, fishermen set out for herring and anchovy, and packet boats and the first steamships departed for Amsterdam.

To the east of Lemmer stretched a landscape shaped by centuries of peat extraction: long, narrow plots, straight drainage ditches and canals along which peat was cut, dried, and transported in barges and skûtsjes. Further inland lay the villages of Oosterzee, Echten, Follega, Bantega, Eesterga and various small hamlets, often established along old reclamation axes.

At this time, Lemsterland formed a transitional zone between the Frisian lake district, the peatlands, and the Zuiderzee coast. Its economy relied on fishing, peat extraction, trade and shipbuilding. Waterways were the lifelines of the region: virtually all connections ran via canals, tow-canals or the Zuiderzee.

The grietenij was governed by a grietman, appointed by Leeuwarden, which exercised authority over the area. The grietman was responsible for maintaining law and order and also had powers in the fields of justice and taxation. After the introduction of the Municipalities Act in 1851, Lemsterland no longer had grietmannen, but mayors.

The Nieuwe Atlas van de Provincie Friesland was produced on behalf of the provincial government. On 2 March 1847 the Leeuwarder Courant published the “Notice of Subscription to the publication of a new Atlas of Friesland.” The price for the entire atlas of 32 maps was 48 guilders; individual maps cost 2 guilders each.

Each map was made available for inspection in the relevant municipality for two weeks. In a prior publication in the Leeuwarder Courant, Eekhoff announced that “everyone is given the opportunity to submit written comments on it to the authorities.” It was also noted that individual maps could still be ordered for two guilders, “since after publication they will no longer be obtainable.”

At the age of thirteen, Wopke Eekhoff (1809–1880) began working in his hometown of Leeuwarden for the bookseller and printer G.T.N. Suringar. He developed into a self-made historian of real distinction. In 1838 he was appointed city archivist of Leeuwarden—the first in the Netherlands. He combined that position with his own bookshop and publishing firm at the corner of the Wirdumerdijk and the Peperstraat.

In an edition of 286 copies, Eekhoff published the Nieuwe Atlas van Friesland in 1849, now better known as the Eekhoff Atlas. Ten years earlier, the Provincial Executive of Friesland had commissioned the province to be remapped. Using triangulation, the maps were compiled by J.W. Witteveen (a draftsman with the cadastre), under the supervision of verification engineer J.H. Jappé. The maps were engraved by D. and H. Veelwaard and lettered by L. Schweickhardt.

Price: Euro 375,-