This very important map of New England and New York is a fascinating early example of political ‘spin’. It served as a ‘recruiting’ poster to attract Dutch colonists by depicting the English-dominated regions of New England and New York as the predominantly Dutch Nova Belgica Nieuw Nederlandt.

With its highly detailed inset drawing of New York (note the distinctly Dutch windmill), the original publication gave educated Europeans their first view of New Amsterdam (New York City) and a very accurate geographic placement of the nascent city. This map was so popular that versions of it continued to be published well into the 18th century.

Cape Cod is accurately drawn as “Nieuw Hollant”; Marthaes Vyneard and the Island of Natocke are shown, too. Following the coast to the north, you’ll find the settlement at NeuPleymont (Plymouth) and the designation of the River Charles before Boston and Cambridge existed.

As a cartographic document, the map was so highly regarded that William Penn used it in 1685 to settle a boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland. As a work of art, it is a delightfully dense narrative that illustrates American wildlife including turkeys, bears, bunnies and deer; and adorns the sea with native canoes.

Our Perfect Recreation™ captures the beautiful and exceptionally well-preserved color of this striking 17th century document.

About Justus Danckers

Danckers is a Dutch mapmaker and publisher who first published his own version of the Visscher map in 1673, coinciding with the brief (1673-4) Dutch recapture of New Amsterdam from the English. He updated and reissued the map after 1683 to include new settlements and place names including Philadelphia.

Danckers' maps are strikingly colored and attractively engraved.