Holland – Gerard Mercator + Jodocus Hondius, 1585/1606

EARLY MAP OF THE COUNTY OF HOLLAND

“Hollandt Comitatus Utricht Episcop(atus)”, copper engraving made by Gerard Mercator in 1585, based on the work of Jacob van Deventer, and published by Jodocus Hondius in 1606 as part of the “Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura” [Atlas, or Cosmographical Meditations on the Creation of the World and the Form of the Universe]. Coloured by a later hand. Size: 34.5 × 47.5 cm.

The reverse of the map contains an extensive description of the region in Latin:

Some derive the name “Holland” from the great abundance of woods and forests, for we use the words holt and hout interchangeably for wood and woodland, so that Holland would mean a wooded country. Indeed, it is said that the whole territory of Holland was once densely forested.

Others believe that the name derives from the word for a hollow, as if to say Hol-land. The entire country is marshy, after all, and yields beneath the pressure of one’s feet.

Still others think that Holland was originally called Hoylandia, on account of its abundance of hay.

The scholar Hadrianus Junius (1511–1575), however, offers a different explanation. According to him, Holland was a colony founded by a Gothic or Danish people, as was Zeeland. The Danes and Norsemen are said to have left their islands in the Baltic Sea, namely Öland and Sjælland, and settled here, naming their new lands Holland and Zeeland after their homelands.

The country is bounded on the west by the Mare Britannicum (the North Sea), and on the north by the Mare Cimbricum (the North Sea near Jutland and Denmark); to the east, a broad sea passage opens towards Friesland; to the southeast lie Transiselania (Overijssel) and the Veluwe, and to the south the territory of Utrecht.

Its circumference is about sixty miles. Its width is very small, for from the middle of the country a traveller can reach its outermost boundaries in about three hours; from there one can reach the North Sea in one direction and the Zuiderzee in the other, so that in places its width is not even a mile (“Holland at its Narrowest”).

The country possesses fertile fields that produce grain in great abundance. Yet in so small a territory, and in a region scarcely equalled anywhere in density of population, these are barely sufficient to feed such a multitude of people.

Its wealth of pastureland, however, is extraordinary, supporting innumerable herds of cattle. The cows are remarkable both for their large size and for the abundance of milk they produce. In some parts of Holland, during the summer months, a single cow is said to yield as much as forty-four heminae of milk at a milking (approximately 12 litres).

From this abundance of excellent milk, butter is made: not merely a food commonly eaten by barbarian peoples, as Pliny remarks, but also a delicacy highly prized by kings and princes.

Cheeses are also produced that are said to be no less excellent than those of Parma or Piacenza. First place is given to the cheeses of Texel and ’s-Gravenzande, and second to those of Edam, which are particularly esteemed when aged.

The country also breeds fine horses. Countless rabbits inhabit the sandy dunes. There are many red deer, fallow deer and hares; in the woods at The Hague there are herds of roe deer, as well as all kinds of game, especially ducks, geese and, in autumn, woodcock and partridges.

The country furthermore possesses a type of fuel extracted from deeper layers of the earth; after being taken from the water and dried by wind and sun, it is used for burning (peat).

The towns are also described:

Haarlem is a very large town, renowned for its fine buildings and pleasant situation. It possesses the most beautiful church in all Holland, supported by exceedingly strong columns and overlooking the market square. The River Spaarne flows through the town. It is believed to have been founded by Frisians around the year 506. The invention of printing is also attributed to this city. Another source of civic pride is the capture of Damietta in Egypt; as a symbol of this victory it possesses two bronze bells known as the Damietta bells.

Amsterdam, today the foremost centre of commerce in the world, takes its name from the River Amstel. At first it consisted of no more than a few fishermen’s huts and fell under the jurisdiction of the lords of Amstel. Later, Gijsbrecht van Amstel had the town fortified with ramparts, gates and towers. After these had been destroyed by fire through the hostility of neighbouring powers, work began in 1482 on surrounding the city with a stone wall. Since then, Amsterdam has continued to grow. It is now not only the great entrepôt of Holland, but of all the surrounding countries as far as the lands of the Sarmatians, Goths and Cimbri. The city is inhabited not only by Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Englishmen, Scots, Frenchmen, Swedes, Norwegians, Livonians and Germans, but also by people from the Americas, the East, Moors and inhabitants of almost every part of the world.

Naarden is a town of the Chauci (whom our people call the inhabitants of the Gooi). It was founded by Gudula, abbess of a convent near Altena, to whom Emperor Otto I had granted this territory; it later passed into the possession of the counts of Holland. The small town is inhabited largely by weavers.

Muiden lies at the mouth of the River Vecht and is inhabited chiefly by fishermen.

Weesp is enclosed by a wall on one side and washed by the waters of the Vecht on the other. Its buildings are quite substantial for a town of its size. Its inhabitants brew a beer that, on account of its quality, is sought after throughout Holland.

Edam was formerly called IJdam, after the IJ waterway. The town possesses a shipyard where large vessels are built with great skill. The cheese produced in this district is particularly highly regarded throughout Holland.

Monnickendam lies one mile from Edam and was founded around 1227. Its name derives from the nearby lake known as Monnickmeer.

Purmerend lies beside the extensive and fish-rich Purmermeer. Eels were once caught there in such abundance that special vessels were constructed with perforated hulls, allowing the eels to remain alive during transport; in this way they were shipped to England at considerable profit. Hadrianus Junius relates an entertaining story in his Batavia about a mermaid supposedly caught in the Purmermeer in 1480.

Alkmaar probably derives its name from the many lakes by which it is surrounded (Al-meer). Others believe that it comes from Alecmeer, meaning a lake formed by the confluence of several small streams.

Enkhuizen is said to have derived its name from the scarcity of houses (einckel huysen, “single houses”). It is a handsome town, well defended by its position at the edge of the land beside the sea. It is famous for its long-distance seafaring and for the art of curing herring.

Hoorn takes its name from its curved harbour, which is shaped like a horn. The town arose around the year 1300, when Danish merchants came there to trade cattle; this market is still held annually. Hoorn is now the capital of West Friesland. On one side it is supplied by the sea, while on the other it is surrounded by fertile fields and rich pastureland. The town is also held in high esteem for its learning and has produced a remarkable number of scholars, among them the aforementioned Hadrianus Junius.

Medemblik is a coastal town two miles from Hoorn. It was formerly the royal seat of Radbod, King of the Frisians, who, it is said, withdrew his foot from the baptismal water when he was told that his ancestors would be in hell because they had not been Christians.

Price: Euro 975,-