Nova Anglia, Novum Belgium et Virginia.

Rare map of the middle of North America’s East Coast (from New Scotland to Virginia) by Hessel Gerritsz, which also includes an inset map of Bermuda. It was published in the second edition of Johannes de Laet’s main work („Beschrijvinghe van West-Indien…”) and is considered as a cartographic milestone by being the first printed map that mentions several of the fast growing Dutch and English settlements by name such as Manhattan (Manbattes), New York (N. Amsterdam), Albany (Fort Orange) and the recently established English colony, Massachusetts. It is also one of the early depictions of the Great Lakes (Grand Lac and Lac des Yroquois), the Hudson River (Noordt Rivier) and the Delaware River (Zuyd Rivier). The work is illustrated with a cartouche – laced with floral ornaments – and with two compass roses.
As Philip D. Burden writes in his bibliography: „Hessel Gerritsz, the author and probable engraver of the map, had been the official cartographer to the Dutch East India Company since 1617. He would have seen all the documentation and charts from the Dutch voyages into the area of the Hudson River. His depiction of the coastal area between Chesapeake Bay and Cape Cod is by far the finest yet seen. This despite the fact that he still shows the Delaware River flowing from a lake.”
Johannes de Laet – the publisher – as the director of the Dutch West India Company was also able to collect lots of information from the settlers and data from the contemporary surveys, which explains the birth of this fine map exceeding the standard of its time.
Dimensions: 285 x 360 (330 x 390) mm. Fine, clear copy.