Town Atlas by De Wit
the Netherlands on map » Maps from the 17th century
Town Atlas (ca. 1698) by Frederick de Wit
Town Atlas by Frederick de Wit or "Perfecte aftekeningen der steden van de XVII Nederlandsche provincien in platte gronden".
Frederick de Wit was born Frederick Hendricksz or Frederick son of Hendrick. He was born to a Protestant family in 1629/30, in Gouda, a small city in the province of Holland, one of the seven united provinces of the Netherlands. By 1648, during the height of the Dutch Golden Age, De Wit had moved from Gouda to Amsterdam. As early as 1654 he had opened a printing office and shop under the name “De Drie Crabben” (the Three Crabs) which was also the name of his house on the Kalverstraat. In 1655, De Wit changed the name of his shop to the “Witte Pascaert” (the White Chart). Under this name De Wit and his firm became internationally known.
In 1695 De Wit began to publish a town atlas of the Netherlands after he acquired a large number of city plans at the auction of the famous Blaeu publishing firm’s printing plates. De Wit improved some city plans and added the ones of Janssonius, he had acquired earlier.
On this cdrom 112 sheets with city plans en 11 sheets with engravings from cities in the Low Countries.