North Holland – Johannes Dou, 1781

WALL MAP OF NORTH HOLLAND

“’T Hoogheemraadschap vande Uytwaterende Sluysen in Kennemerlant ende West-Frieslant” [The Hoogheemraadschap (water board) of Uitwaterende Sluizen in Kennemerland and West Friesland], copper engraving after the design of Johannes Dou I, published in Amsterdam by Jacobus Nieuwenhoff in 1781. Coloured by a later hand. Four sheets joined. Size: 86 × 112 cm.

This map is a characteristic example of Dutch water management cartography. To protect the low-lying Holland polderland — situated in a deep basin — from the waters of the sea and rivers, a large number of waterschappen (water boards) were established throughout western Netherlands, each responsible for hydraulic works and flood protection within its district. For efficient water management, accurate overview maps were of vital importance.

The Dijkgraaf (dike reeve) and High Heemraden (board members) of the water board of the Uitwaterende Sluizen in Kennemerland and West Friesland commissioned the surveyor and mapmaker Johannes Dou I (1615–1682) to chart their jurisdiction in the northern part of Holland. Dou spent an astonishing twenty years on the project, completing in 1682 an enormous map composed of sixteen sheets. Two years later, a reduced version on four sheets was produced, as well as a smaller single-sheet edition.

All three versions of the map were engraved by Koenraet Decker (1651–1709), a pupil of Romeyn de Hooghe and Abraham Deur. Although their names appear only on the sixteen-sheet edition, it has been shown that the copperplates were reused and copied multiple times, both individually and in sets of three maps. While the cartographic content remained unchanged, small variations can be found in the coats of arms of the water board officials. Based on the heraldry on this particular copy — those of Dijkgraaf Willem Winder, and Hoogheemraden Willem Lodewijk, Count of Nassau-Bergen, Jacob van Twuijver, Cornelis Kuyper, Daniel Ras, and Rentmeester en Secretaris (land agent and secretary) Gualtherus George Gideon van der Mieden — we can date this example to 1781.

Johannes Dou I was admitted as a land surveyor by the Hof van Holland (High Court of Holland) on 10 September 1635. He studied at the University of Leiden, and after his father’s death in 1635 he was appointed, together with Steven van Broeckhuysen, as permanent surveyor of the Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland. From 1637 onwards he also practised as a notary public.

Literature: o.a. Donkersloot – de Vrij, Topografische kaarten van Nederland vóór 1750, p. 147-148, no. 751.

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