Rare 1658 “Beemsterlants Caerte” – Van Breen Map of the Historic Dutch Beemster Polder
A rare and exceptionally detailed seventeenth-century map of the Beemster Polder, engraved by Daniël van Breen in Amsterdam in 1658 after the celebrated survey of Balthasar Florisz. van Berckenrode. Entitled Beemsterlants Caerte, the map documents one of the most remarkable engineering achievements of the Dutch Golden Age: the transformation of an extensive inland lake into fertile agricultural land.
Between 1607 and 1612, Dutch engineers enclosed the Beemster with a massive ring dike and drained the lake using a coordinated network of canals and approximately forty windmills. The resulting landscape was organized according to a remarkably precise geometric plan. Van Breen’s engraving records that design in extraordinary detail, identifying the numbered landholdings, roads, dikes, drainage canals, mills and surrounding settlements.
Purmerend, De Rijp, Beets, Oosthuizen, Oudendijk and Schermerhorn appear around the perimeter, while a compass rose indicates the map’s orientation. At lower right, the title is presented beside an elegant winged allegorical figure and cattle, symbolizing the fertility and prosperity created from land reclaimed from the water.
This is the rare reduced form of the much larger six-sheet Beemster survey. Specialist literature records the 1658 first state as De Vries 12A and cites only five institutional examples. The plate was later revised and reissued by Jan Switzers in 1769. The present impression corresponds in design to the documented 1658 state.
Original copper engraving on laid paper, approximately 17⅛ × 22⅞ inches at the plate mark, subject to confirmation. Strong, clear impression with generous margins. General age toning, scattered marginal discoloration and a more pronounced area of brown staining in the upper-right margin. Possible old reinforcement at the upper corners. The engraved map itself remains remarkably complete, crisp and visually impressive.
A scarce early map of one of history’s most important reclaimed landscapes—today preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site—and a compelling artifact of seventeenth-century Dutch cartography, hydraulic engineering and agricultural planning.
A rare and exceptionally detailed seventeenth-century map of the Beemster Polder, engraved by Daniël van Breen in Amsterdam in 1658 after the celebrated survey of Balthasar Florisz. van Berckenrode. Entitled Beemsterlants Caerte, the map documents one of the most remarkable engineering achievements of the Dutch Golden Age: the transformation of an extensive inland lake into fertile agricultural land.
Between 1607 and 1612, Dutch engineers enclosed the Beemster with a massive ring dike and drained the lake using a coordinated network of canals and approximately forty windmills. The resulting landscape was organized according to a remarkably precise geometric plan. Van Breen’s engraving records that design in extraordinary detail, identifying the numbered landholdings, roads, dikes, drainage canals, mills and surrounding settlements.
Purmerend, De Rijp, Beets, Oosthuizen, Oudendijk and Schermerhorn appear around the perimeter, while a compass rose indicates the map’s orientation. At lower right, the title is presented beside an elegant winged allegorical figure and cattle, symbolizing the fertility and prosperity created from land reclaimed from the water.
This is the rare reduced form of the much larger six-sheet Beemster survey. Specialist literature records the 1658 first state as De Vries 12A and cites only five institutional examples. The plate was later revised and reissued by Jan Switzers in 1769. The present impression corresponds in design to the documented 1658 state.
Original copper engraving on laid paper, approximately 17⅛ × 22⅞ inches at the plate mark, subject to confirmation. Strong, clear impression with generous margins. General age toning, scattered marginal discoloration and a more pronounced area of brown staining in the upper-right margin. Possible old reinforcement at the upper corners. The engraved map itself remains remarkably complete, crisp and visually impressive.
A scarce early map of one of history’s most important reclaimed landscapes—today preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site—and a compelling artifact of seventeenth-century Dutch cartography, hydraulic engineering and agricultural planning.
