Seventeen Provinces – Pieter van den Keere, 1622

THE SEVENTEEN PROVINCES DURING THE TWELVE YEARS’ TRUCE

“Novus XVII Inferioris Germaniae Provinciarum Typus. De integro multis in locis.” [New map of the Seventeen Provinces of the Low Countries, thoroughly revised in many places.] Copper engraving published by Pieter van den Keere (also known as Petrus Kaerius) in 1617, here shown in its second state from 1622, as part of the atlas “Germania Inferior id est, XVII provinciarum ejus novae et exactae Tabulae Geographicae”. Coloured by a (possibly) later hand. Size: 38.5 × 50 cm.

The Germania Inferior atlas is the first folio-format atlas entirely dedicated to maps of the Netherlands and its constituent regions. While several maps in the atlas were based on pre-existing copper plates, this map of the Seventeen Provinces was not among them.

On the reverse side, the region is described as follows:

“These seventeen provinces, in terms of location, wealth, cultivation, and population density, are rightly counted among the most flourishing regions of Europe. Their lands are fertile, their cities numerous, their commerce abundant, their arts and craftsmanship refined, their laws well-regulated, their armies well-equipped, and their naval forces supremely powerful.

If all these things are governed with moderation and directed toward the common good, then no region can compare to them, nor can they easily be overpowered by any enemy. But when they fall into internal discord, or are torn apart by foreign powers through divided rule, they often come into peril. [Note: At the time this map was publised, hostilities of the Eighty Years’ War had resumed following the so-called Twelve Years’ Truce (1609–1621).]

As for the particular qualities of each of these provinces – the character of their inhabitants, their resources, their crafts, the forms of religion, their systems of government, alliances, disputes, wars, and peace negotiations – historians have treated these matters at length.

We, however, who present a geographical map, concern ourselves more with the situation of places than with the sequence of events; more with names of locations than with the causes of occurrences. Our intention is not to write history, but rather to point out the path for the reader to seek it.

Let the reader, then, in this map attend chiefly to where each province lies, what rivers, cities, and regions it contains, what borders it holds, and which areas face the sea, the Rhine, the Meuse, or the Scheldt.

From these things one may judge the convenience of trade, the risk of enemy incursions, the suitability of routes, and the strengths and weaknesses of kingdoms – matters most pertinent to the prudent citizen, soldier, general, and counselor.”

The title cartouche in the upper right corner of the map is decorated with Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Mercury, god of commerce, as a representation of the Low Countries. Next to the scale cartouche in the lower left corner, a surveyor is shown kneeling beside a large compass. In the legend cartouche, the number of cities and villages is listed for each of the seventeen provinces. Below that is the explanation of the map symbols.

Price: Euro 2.650,-