The Blaeu Nova Belgica et Anglia Nova was published from 1635 — 1658. This map of New York and New England is the first printed version of the 1614 map made by Adriaen Block during his "follow up" expedition to Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage of discovery for the Dutch East India Company.

This map is the first to name Nieu Amsterdam and to show Manhattan as an island, delineating Manhates and Nieu Nederlandt. It updates the Block manuscript map by relying on John Smith's 1616 map of New England to show the colony of Nieu Pleimouth and Lake Champlain, which it identifies by the name Lacus Irocoisiensis.

The first Dutch settlers in the area made their initial home on Governor's Island in 1623 and, together with their cattle, moved across the harbor to Manhattan a year later. In 1625, a larger group of Dutch colonists landed on Manhattan and began plans to fortify the tip of the island, now the Battery. In 1626, Peter Minuit "bought" Manhattan Island from the Lenape Indians.

Our Perfect Recreation™ of this rare beautiful map captures every cartographic and illustrative detail as well as the extremely well preserved 400-year od paper and the color of the hand-painted elements.

About Willem Janzoon Blaeu

The Blaeu family produced the most popular and significant atlases, globes and maps of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Founded in 1596 and specializing in globe and instrument making, the business expanded to produce sea charts and maps. Willem Blaeu was appointed chart maker to the East India Company in 1633.

His firm's most important work was the monumental Atlas Maior or Grand Atlas. When it was published in five languages in 1662, it was the most expensive book ever produced and the finest of the category. Its meticulous attention to detail — in its cartography, typography and engraving — made it an immediate success.