RARE 17TH CENTURY NAUTICAL CHART OF THE WADDEN
“Nieuwe beschrijvinghe van alle de Eylanden ende Gaten der Zee, die ghelegen zijn langs de Custen van Vrieslandt Groeningerlandt Embderlandt etc. van Vlielandt af tot de Elve toe“. [New description of all the islands and channels of the sea, which are located along the coasts of Friesland, Groningen, Embden, etc., from Vlieland to the Elbe.] Copper engraving published in 1608 by Willem Jansz. Blaeu as part of his pilot guide “Het licht der Zee-vaart”. Coloured by a later hand. Size: 25 x 56 cm.
Nautical charts like this one of the Wadden were used in the 17th century for sea navigation. They helped sailors determine their course and measure distances traveled. The charts provided a topographical representation of coastlines, rivers, and islands, and were marked with a network of rhumb lines. Anchorages, shallows, banks, buoys, and sailing instructions were also indicated to guide mariners.
“Het licht der Zee-vaart” [The light of navigation] was first published in 1608. With this pilot guide, Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571–1638) began his career as an author, printer, and publisher of books. Before this, Blaeu had already been active in Amsterdam for over a decade, making and selling charts, maps and instruments, but this was his first book.
More than 300 editions of books in various genres would follow. It wasn’t just one pilot guide either. Numerous reprints, expansions, and improvements of Het Licht der Zee-vaart were published over the next half-century. Updating information was necessary, Blaeu states in the introduction that “sea channels and harbors changed quickly, making previous descriptions not only unsuitable but also dangerous for navigation.”
After Willem Blaeu’s death, his son Joan continued the business. The Blaeu family’s company became the largest and most famous printer/publisher of maps and atlases in the 17th century.
Literature: Cor Koeman (1970) “Atlantes Neerlandici – Bibliography of terrestrial, maritime and celestial atlases and pilot books, published in the Netherlands up to 1880”, volume IV, M. Bl 1 (20).
Price: Euro 2.450,- (incl. frame)
