Coast of Holland – Pieter Goos, 1667

SEA CHART OF THE HOLLAND COAST WITH BROAD FOURTEENS

“Cust van Hollant tusschen de Maes ende Texel”, copper engraving published by Pieter Goos in 1667 as part of “De Zee-Atlas, Ofte Water-Weereld, Waer in vertoont werden alle de Zee-Kusten Van het bekende des Aerd-Bodems“. Coloured by a later hand. Size: 42.3 x 52.5 cm.

This sea chart shows the coast of Holland from the Maas to Texel. The chart is laid out in the tradition of 17th-century chartmakers, with a network of rhumb lines and bearings serving as practical aids to navigation. Sandbanks, such as the Broad Fourteens (“De Bree Veerthien”), are carefully indicated, as they were vital for sailors approaching the shallow coastal waters of Holland.

The depth of fourteen fathoms of this sandbank was so distinctive that sailors considered themselves safe when, in poor visibility, they measured that depth. Danger arose when they found greater depth: then they were in the coastal channel and risked running aground. Moreover, the sandbank broke the waves of the North Sea, although the water there was still more than twenty metres deep. Ships obliged to wait offshore often did so at the Broad Fourteens. For example, when fleets and convoys departed from the Texel roadstead, they had to wait until all ships had set sail; the Broad Fourteens were the designated anchorage for this purpose.

Charts such as this one were sold by Goos both individually and as part of his atlas, which appeared in various editions and gained international renown. Pieter Goos (1616–1675), from a prominent Amsterdam family of mapmakers, created with his Zee-Atlas a standard work for merchants, naval officers, and shipowners in the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic.

The map is further enlivened with decorative elements such as compass roses, an ornate title cartouche, and a ship under full sail.

Price: Euro 750,-