The IJ before Amsterdam – Ignatz Albrecht, 1791

“Das Wasser. Het Ye.” Copper engraving made in 1791 by Ignatz Albrecht for Franz Johann Joseph von Reilly’s “Schauplatz der fünf Theile der Welt.” Coloured by a later hand. Size: 23 × 29.5 cm.

This detailed map focuses on the IJ and its immediate surroundings, depicting the transitional zone between Amsterdam, the Zuiderzee, and the inland waters of Holland at the end of the eighteenth century. It presents a landscape in which water still dominates: the IJ appears as a broad, tidal inlet in open connection with the Zuiderzee, while to the southwest lies the vast Haarlemmermeer, not yet reclaimed and notorious for its flooding.

By the late eighteenth century, the Dutch Republic found itself in a period of political tension and gradual decline, yet its system of water management remained among the most advanced in Europe. The map reflects this centuries-long struggle against water: polders, dikes, canals, and sluices form a dense and carefully organized network. At the same time, it demonstrates how incomplete this control still was. Large bodies of water such as the Haarlemmermeer and the IJ itself posed a persistent threat to surrounding settlements and agricultural land. The reclamation of the Haarlemmermeer would only take place in the mid-nineteenth century, fundamentally transforming the landscape.

The IJ also held considerable strategic and economic importance. Serving as Amsterdam’s maritime foreland, it provided the direct connection to the Zuiderzee and, through it, to international trade routes. By the end of the eighteenth century, however, navigation had become increasingly difficult due to silting and shifting shallows. The map carefully records the shorelines, towns, and villages along both the northern and southern banks, illustrating the fragile accessibility of Amsterdam’s harbour.

The map was issued as part of Franz Johann Joseph von Reilly’s ambitious atlas project, the “Schauplatz der fünf Theile der Welt”, published in several volumes between 1789 and 1806. Conceived as a systematic and up-to-date survey of the world, the work resulted in hundreds of maps engraved in Vienna. Although the project remained incomplete due to the disruptions of the Napoleonic Wars, it stands as an important example of late eighteenth-century cartography, in which scientific precision and commercial atlas production converge.

Price: Euro 275,-
RESERVED