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Tijdschrift voor de geschiedenis van de kartografie
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By the early 20th century the topographical mapping of the Kingdom of the Netherlands had reached a rather high level in both its European part (The Netherlands) and in the Dutch East Indies. The mapping of the West Indian colonies, Surinam and the Antilles, was much less developed. Shortly after 1900 the necessity arose to survey the Antilles, especially, and to make topographical maps. These maps had to facilitate the develop-ment of a system of small dams for preserving, as efficiently as possible, rainwater for agricultural use. Triangulation of Curaçao started in 1904, that of the other islands shortly after-wards. Because Dutch topographers had no experience in the surveying of tropical regions, the East Indian topographer J.V.D. Werbata (1866-1929) was commissioned to survey Curaçao and instruct some local surveyors. Werbata stayed from 1906 to 1909 on Curaçao and made the 1:20,000 topo-graphical map of that island in addition to one of Willemstad at 1:5,000. His student, Willem A. Jonckheer jr., continued with the survey of Aruba and Bonaire on the same scale of 1:20,000. Finally, the islands of St. Martin (Dutch part) and St. Eustatius were also surveyed (probably by Jonckheer). The six topo-graphical map series were printed by Smulders in The Hague between 1911 and 1915 (see the list of maps in the article). (back)
Pieke Hooghoff and
Ferjan Ormeling
Wilhelm Linnemann Experiences in the mapping of
the Dutch East Indies 1926-1936
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 1, pp. 14-34]
With a German father and an Indonesian mother, Wilhelm Linnemann rose from an orphanage to almost the highest post in the official (military) mapping organization in the Dutch East Indies - the Topografische Dienst. His memoirs, written after his early retirement in 1936, present a vivid picture of a surveyor’s life in the bush and its hardships. This paper pre-sents the organizational and societal background against which Linnemann’s occupational activities must be seen: the colonial and military hierarchies, and the special position of people of mixed descent. Systematic topographical mapping started in the Dutch East Indies in the 1850s and, after the first mapping of Java, then progressed to the other islands. In the 1920s, when Linnemann became chief of a mapping brigade in Central Sumatra [Sumatera], many of his colleagues had had the same training as he: first, at a military cadet school in Gombong, which specialized in topographical subjects; se-cond: a three-and-a-half year attachment to the topographical training institution for officers of the topographical survey in Malang. With 450 staff in the 1930s, of which 70% was Indonesian, the Topografische Dienst was the largest mapping organization, and had the largest printing establishment, in Southeast Asia. It was in charge of an area 80 times larger than the Netherlands. As the terrain was completely different, both because of the relief and the vegetation, other mapping tech-niques were experimented with at an early stage. The me-moirs show how these activities were experienced from wit-hin and present an image that sometimes clashes with, but always puts flesh and bones to, the dry prose of the official annual reports of the Topografische Dienst. (back)
Heinrich Schumacher
The mapping of East Frisia by Willem Pieter Camp, 1798-1804
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 2, pp. 45-51]
In 1797 Dutch artillery captain Willem Pieter del Campo
genaamd Camp (1761-1855) was commissioned by the government of
East Frisia to carry out the triangulation and mapping of that
county. Camp, assisted by H. Bunnik and W. van der Linden,
started this work in 1798. He connected his triangulation
with that of Oldenburg. A draft version of the map in two
sheets on the scale of 1:120,000 was finished in 1802, and
Camp was asked to make a version twice as large. The new
manuscript map, on a scale of 1:50,000 and in six sheets,
was finished in 1804. Camp made three copies of which one
is lost, and the others are in the archives in Aurich and in
the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. Simultaneously with this six-sheet
manuscript map, the two-sheet map of 1802 was en-graved
in copper by Carl Jättnig in Berlin and finished in
1804. A reduced version in one sheet was engraved by Cornelis
van Baarsel in Amsterdam. Camp’s map was criticised
by the Frisian mathematician Jabbo Oltmanns.
Research into Oltmanns’ critique and the map itself shows
that, indeed, some triangulation errors were made. The map
is not homogenous but consists of three distinct ‘blocks’,
each of which is correct within itself, but which equally do
not fit with the others.
(back)
Peter Mekenkamp and Piet Ververgaert
Classical images of the world. What distinguishes
Europe from Asia?
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 2, pp. 53-59]
The partitioning of the greatest united surface on earth into the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa has ancient roots. Prominent in the Greek and Hellenistic concepts of the inhabited world are the main parallel - the ‘diaphragm’ -through the Mediterranean, and the central meridian from Aswan to the Bosporus and Dnjepr. Eratosthenes of Alexandria brilliantly calculated the circumference of the earth at 252.000 stades (ca 40.000 km) using sundial measurements on the Aswan-Alexandria part of the meridian. On a grid of 7 meridians and 7 parallels, including the main parallel and the central meridian, he designed a map of the inhabited world surrounded by the Ocean. It covered an area between the Arctic and the Horn of Africa extending from Gibraltar to the Ganges estuary. The inhabited world was accommodated on a globe with two poles and a ‘modern’ equator. In doing so he intended to present a geometrical picture of the world. The cartographical presentation of the main frame through the Mediterranean and the Bosporus appeared to emphasize the demarcation between the three continents. In modern times these arbitrary, geographical, lines are used in discussions on the European character of future member states of the European Union. (back)
Joost Augusteijn
A map of Drenthe by Gaspar Bouttats
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 2, pp. 60-61]
The Antwerp engraver Gaspar Bouttats is known only because of a publication ‘Thooneel der steden ende sterckten van ’t Vereenight Nederlandt’ (1679) with approx. 100 crude city profiles. Recent research has brought to light several plans of cities and fortifications in Gelderland and Overijssel, modelled partly on those of Merian. In addition, a map of the province of Drenthe, copied from Janssonius, has been found. The author wants to know if Bouttats made maps of the other Dutch provinces too. (back)
Henk van der Heijden
The Calenberg Atlas, an eighteenth-century ‘atlas factice’ of the world in twenty volumes
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 2, pp. 62-66]
An ‘atlas factice’ has recently been found in a private collection which is not available to the public. The atlas contains about two thousand maps, most of which are coloured by a contemporary hand, bound in twenty large gold-stamped leather volumes. Unlike many other large map collections that survive, this atlas was arranged in a traditional classified manner: maps of the world and the continents of Europe, America, Africa, and of Asia, followed by various countries and regions and, lastly, some volumes of historical maps. The atlas deliberately contains only eighteenth-century maps, and is remarkable for the large number of wall-maps which are 60 x 100 cm high and 100 x 150 cm wide. From a rubbing of the coat-of- arms inside the first volume, which corresponds with the gold-stamped coat-of-arms on its binding, it would appear that the atlas was compiled about 1753 by the nobleman Henry of Calenberg (1685-1772), chamberlain to Maria Theresia. (back)
Rolf Blankemeijer
State or plate? The titlepages of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 3, pp. 73-78]
For the printing of the titlepages of all the editions of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum two different plates are used. From these two plates several different states can be distinguished. The use of different plates with almost identical images cannot be explained by examining the production process of the Theatrum. Arguments suggested by other authors are also not sufficient to explain the coexistence of the different plates for printing the titlepage. (back)
Marco van Egmond
A new housing for the map library of the Utrecht Faculty of Geosciences
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 3, pp. 79-83]
Since September 2004, the map library of the Utrecht Faculty of Geosciences has been housed in the new building of the University Library of Utrecht in Heidelberglaan (Uithof). Partly because of insufficient storage space the old location in the Van Unnik building could no longer function efficiently. The new location offers much more space for extension of the map collection. Furthermore, the map library is now more easily accessible and user-friendly. Some innovative projects, such as the digitalization of the catalogues and the maps, must in the nearby future lead to an even more attractive map library for map enthusiasts. (back)
Hans Kok
Aeronautical charts for long-range navigation 1940-1970
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 3, pp. 84-92]
Aeronautical maps and charts are not often discussed; the long-range plotting charts from the period 1940 to 1970, however, form an especially interesting topic, mainly for three reasons:
Elger Heere & Martijn Storms
Applications of the 1832 Cadastre: the pilot projects of "De WoonOmgeving"
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 3, pp. 93-98).
The website www.dewoonomgeving.nl was realised at the end of 2003. In this project the series of the oldest Dutch cadastral plans of 1832 and the auxiliary tables are digitally catalogued. By zooming in on a map of the Netherlands the different cadastral municipalities and sections appear. By clicking on a specific location a detailed image of its cadastral map appears; images of the tables can also be viewed. Beside these basic functions a number of pilot projects are added to the website. Most of the pilots contain vectorised cadastral plans to which are linked the tabular information. Some pilots have pre-cadastral information linked to these vectorised maps; other pilots are not directly linked to the cadastral maps, but contain property maps, aerial photographs and topographical maps. For researchers the website is most useful when information derived from different pilots can be combined for a certain region. Unfortunately the interface of the website, especially for the different pilots, is not very user-friendly and an average visitor will have difficulties in getting all the desired information from it. (back)
Willem. G. Doornbos
The Groningen provincial map of Theodorus
Beckeringh
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 4, pp. 105-111).
Up till now it was generally accepted that the Groningen provincial map of Theodorus Beckeringh went through only one edition, in 1781. By researching watermarks and news-paper advertisements it was possible to prove differently. A second edition was published in 1849 by the prominent Groningen family of printers, Oomkens. During the whole of the 19th century this map was available to the public. (back)
Maili Blauw
A graphic representation of the ‘waterstaat’: the
‘Waterstaats’ map of The Netherlands, 1865-1992
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 4, pp. 112-119).
The Dutch Service for Water state published the Waterstaat Map of The Netherlands between 1865 and 1992, scale 1:50.000. It was a topographical map that provided easily understood information about the location, condition, and possible threat of the waters. Because it served as a highly useful document, that could be consulted for many kinds of topographical information, the map went through many different versions and editions. In 1992 it was decided to stop printing the map and replace it with a digital version. (back)
Peter van der Krogt
Why Joan Blaeu altered the dedication on his map of
Persia
[Caert-Thresoor 24 (2005) 4, pp. 124-125).
Willem Jansz. Blaeu dedicated his atlas maps to several friends and relatives. The map of Persia of 1634 he dedicated to the Amsterdam merchant Diederick Tholincx. In 1644 Tholincx went bankrupt because of the shipwreck of the Batavia and had to leave the town. Joan Blaeu removed the dedication and left the cartouche blank. For the Atlas Maior he made a new dedi-cation: this time to the Amsterdam magistrate Simon van Hoorn. (back)