North Sea – Noordzee – Nieuwe Paskaart van de Noort Zee (..).; G. Hulst van Keulen – 1779

Description

Detailed map of the Northsea and its coasts. With scale, compass rose, course lines and detailed display of depths and sandbanks. Bottom right title cartouche ‘Compiled and published by Gerard Hulst van Keulen, in Amsterdam, at the corner of the Nieuwbrug 1779.’.

*In case of shipment out of the Netherlands, the frame will be removed. 

Gedetailleerde kaart van de Noordzee en haar kusten. Met schaalverdeling, kompasroos, koerslijnen en gedetailleerde weergave van dieptematen en zandbanken. Rechtsonder titelcartouche ‘Samengesteld en uitgegeven door Gerard Hulst van Keulen, te Amsterdam, op den hoek van de Nieuwbrug 1779.’.

*Wortelhouten lijst met minieme gebruikskenmerken. De lijst is in de prijs inbegrepen. In Nederland rekenen wij geen extra verzendkosten.

Details

• Type: carthography, sea chart
• Title: Nieuwe Platte Kaart van de Noort Zee Strekkende van Frederikstad tot de Eylande Ornaal, van Schagens Hoek langs de Westkuste van Jutland, Holland, & Zeeland tot Middelburg: beneffens de Oostkust van Engeland en Schotland van Colchester tot de Orcades en Eylanden van Hitland. Uit de jongste waarneeminge van Hoegs, Hammons Heiteman en verdere ervaren zeelieden verbeeterd.
• Technique: copper engraving, contemporary colored, composed
• Drawn after: Hoegs, Hammons, Heiteman e.a.
• Mapped in: 1779
• Published: as an individual chart in 1799 by Gerard Hulst van Keulen in Amsterdam
• Size print:  79.5 x 96.2 cm (31.3 x 37.9 inches)
• Size frame: 105 x 123 cm (41.3 x 48.4 inches)
• Verso: blank
• ID: 1750 Z
• Source: Koeman IV: Keu [560] / collectie van het Nationaal Archief (4.MCAL 130 1/2) / The Van Keulen cartography, 16, p. 162

Condition (A)

Very good, given age. Professionally composed of multiple parts. Nice clean print with bright coloring. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Professional restoration of paper in the right margin, just to the border of the image. 

Zeer goed, gegeven de leeftijd. Professioneel samengesteld uit meerdere delen. Scherpe afdruk op fris papier met heldere inkleuring. Stukje rechtermarge aangezet aan verso, tot de grens van het beeld.

Backgrounds

Van Keulen publishing house

Johannes van Keulen (1654 – 1715) was een Nederlandse uitgever en de grondlegger van het bekende uitgevershuis in Amsterdam. De uitgeverij zou zich ruim twee eeuwen richten op het publiceren van zeeatlassen. De belangrijkste uitgave is ‘De Groote Ligtende Zee-Fakkel’. De eerste editie uit 1684 bevatte vijf delen. Van Keulen vestigde zich in 1679 aan de oostzijde van de Nieuwe Brug te Amsterdam. Hij werkte samen met de cartograaf Claes Jansz Vooght. Hij kocht koperplaten uit de nalatenschappen van Joan Blaeu en Hendrick Doncker. Van Keulens werk werd voortgezet door zijn zoon, Gerard van Keulen (1678-1726). Zijn kleinzoon, Johannes II van Keulen (1704-1755), was degene die deel 6 van de atlas met kaarten van de Aziatische wateren publiceerde. Achterkleinzoon Gerard Hulst van Keulen (1733-1801) hield zich bezig met de laatste versie van de Zee-Fakkel. Vanaf 1801 werd de naam van Van Keulen nog steeds gebruikt: Wed. G. Hulst van Keulen. In 1885 werd het bedrijf definitief opgeheven.

The Van Keulens were a family of chartmakers and publishers. The firm, In de Gekroonde Lootsman (In the Crowned Pilot), was founded in 1678 by Johannes van Keulen (1654-1715). Van Keulen originally registered his business as a vendor of books and instruments (specifically cross-staffs). In 1680, however, he gained a privilege from the States of Holland and West Friesland for the publication of pilot guides and sea atlases.

In that year, van Keulen released his Zee-Atlas (Sea Atlas), which secured him a name in the competitive maritime publishing market. In 1681, he published the first volume of Nieuwe Lichtende Zee-Fakkel (New Shining Sea Torch). This would be the first of an eventual five volumes originally published between 1680 and 1684. A sixth volume was added in 1753. The Zee-Fakel won van Keulen lasting fame. The atlas had charts compiled by Claes Jansz Vooght and artwork from Jan Luyken. It proved immensely popular and was reprinted until 1783. There were translations in French, English, Spanish, and Italian.

The late-seventeenth century was an auspicious time to enter the maritime chart business. Previous industry leaders had either closed shop, died, or retired, leaving space for a new competitor. Van Keulen proceeded to buy up the stock and privileges of several maritime publishing firms; the most notable was the stock of Hendrik Doncker, acquired in 1693.

Johannes’ son, Gerard (1678-1726) took over the business upon his father’s death. Gerard was a skilled engraver and mathematician. His talents were noticed, as in 1706 he was named as Hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

In turn, Gerard’s son Johannes II (1704-1770) came to run the shop. He was also tied to the VOC, and his role as their chartmaker allowed his charts to be considered as quasi-official government documents. It is with access to formerly clandestine VOC geographic knowledge that Johannes the Younger was able to add a sixth volume to the Zee-Fakkel, which covered the East Indies. Johannes also continued to sell instruments, including the recently-invented Hadley’s Quadrant from 1744.

When Johannes II died in 1770, his widow ran the business in his stead, aided by her two sons, Cornelis Buys (1736-1778) and Gerard Hulst (1733-1801). Now a century old, the family business had extended to include an anchor factory. After Cornelis died in 1778, Gerard took on the management of the firm alone. He oversaw the introduction of sextants to their inventory and published the Dutch Nautical Almanac beginning in 1788. Annual editions appeared until 1885. Gerard also served as an original member of the Dutch Commission for Longitude at Sea from 1787.

Gerard’s widow ran the business for nine years after his death, when their son, Johannes Hulst, started to lead the firm in 1810. After his death in 1844, the firm passed out of family hands and into the control of Jacob Swert, a skilled cartographer who had worked for the business for two decades. He passed the work to his son, another Jacob, in 1866. By the mid-nineteenth century, the conversion from sail to steam had diminished the size of the market for charts. Fewer sailors needed fewer maps, charts, and instruments. In 1885, after 207 years in business, In de Gekroonde Lootsman closed its doors and auctioned its stock.