This encyclopedic volume focuses on Enkhuizen and Edam caert-schrijvers (chart-makers) of the late sixteenth century, the so-called North Holland School. These cartographers were pioneers in the early days of Dutch independence and set the foundation for the well-known atlases and maps of the seventeenth-century Golden Age. Schilder spent much of his career researching and compiling data for the nine-volume Monumenta Cartographica Neerlandica. Some of the information from those volumes is reproduced here (especially from volume 7, on Amsterdam publisher Cornelis Claesz).
The rich color illustrations and detailed information on each chart-maker, chart, and later edition make this a necessary resource for any academic library. In effect, it is a catalogue raisonné of North Holland cartographers’ maps. It includes two appendixes of reproductions of the charts from Lucas Waghenaer’s Spieghel der Zeevaerdt (1585) and Thresoor der Zee-vaert (1592), in addition to copious reproductions of maps, atlas pages, and frontispieces from the various pilot guides and travel accounts that bound many of these charts together. Notably, a variety of media were used for these early printed charts: woodcuts on paper and engravings on vellum, as well as on paper. Copperplates last longer than woodblocks and could be sold to another publisher after a privilege expired. Vellum is hardier for travel than paper; it seems that paper maps were useful for mass production as the maps became a commodity for sale to the general consumer, in addition to corporate stakeholders.
Schilder organizes his discussion primarily around individuals from the North Holland cities of Edam and Enkhuizen, beginning with chapters on Lucas Jansz. Waghenaer and Jan Huygen van Linschoten (both from Enkhuizen). He includes chapters each on Edam pilots Cornelis Doedsz. and Evert Gijsbertsz. There is a short chapter on Joris Carolus, also from Enkhuizen, who seems to have known Waghenaer and Linschoten. Schilder describes the biographical information of the navigators and their map publishers. He lists editions of each chart along with illustrations and historical context. Of particular note are the computer-generated Explokart Project maps, which I found very useful. These engineered images combine a mapmaker’s early charts to show how they go together, enhancing the reader’s understanding of the geographical scope of charts that originally were bound as separate pages in books.
Significantly, Schilder mentions how important the connection between the North Holland caert-schrijvers and Amsterdam publishers was to Dutch cartography. This fact of connection is indeed very important. Too often, historians forget that publishers then, as now, sought original work and sometimes financed it in order to promote their own brand in a competitive market. Some received privileges from the government (the States General or their local city government). Amsterdam publishers like Cornelis Claesz, Willem Jansz Blaeu, and Claes Jansz. Visscher are well known in cartography. Schilder shows just how reliant they were on the navigators whose information they needed. These interpersonal business connections and competitions are aspects of the book I wished Schilder had expanded upon. Social networks were very important for any of these individuals to succeed in their enterprises (navigation, publishing, trade), and ultimately, to secure Dutch independence and hegemony on the seas. Clé Lesger made these connections clear with respect to publishing in Amsterdam, as have others regarding the distribution of scientific knowledge in the early modern period (see Clé Lesger, The Rise of the Amsterdam Market and Information Exchange [2006] and Siegfried Huigen, Jan L. de Jong, and Elmer Kolfin, eds. Dutch Trading Companies as Knowledge Networks [2010]).
The extensive data that is a boon to researchers could be overwhelming for a novice reader in the field of (Dutch) cartography. Schilder assumes a great deal of reader knowledge about the Netherlands and mapmaking generally. This is a book for researchers; it is not easily read cover to cover. There is no story told to help the reader navigate the text. There is little interpretation of the maps as social and artistic artifacts. As an art historian, I wanted such interpretation and narrative. I wanted more than passing mention of the figures decorating so many of these maps, and of the social relations between publishers, mapmakers, scholars, magistrates, and their wives (Claesz and Linschoten’s wives are briefly mentioned as significant players). I wanted explanation about how and why these maps covered company walls (disclaimer: I have published my own interpretations of Cornelis Claesz’s and Claes Jansz. Visscher’s maps; neither publication is included in Schilder’s bibliography).
It is difficult to review an almost-700-page book in 700 words. Although this review is spare, any researcher in Dutch cartography will be grateful to Schilder for the copious information he has compiled.
