1700 / 1719 Ottens Map of The English Channel

Superb chart of the Pas de Calais and the mouth of the Thames.

This is Luggert van Anse's c. 1690 map of the English Channel, southeastern England, and the Pas-de-Calais. It was subsequently published by Renier and Josue Ottens in about 1730, whose imprint appears on this example. This is a superb work, combining granular inland detail with what had been state-of-the-art nautical charting of both the Channel and the mouth of the Thames River. This combination of detailed charting and inland mapping is unusual in maps of this period.

A Closer Look

The map covers southeastern England, including London and the full length of the Thames River, from Gloucester and Salisbury to the Straits of Dover and from Oxfordshire to the Isle of Wight. While this is a proper map, showing inland cities and rivers extensively, it has many of the characteristics of a nautical chart. The coastlines of both England and France feature many depth soundings, anchorages are marked, and sandbars are indicated and, in many places, named. Comparison suggests that much of van Anse's navigational detail was drawn from the charts of Gerard Van Keulen, for whom van Anse had worked as an engraver.

The coasts of Normandy are covered from Calais to Havre De Grace. The text box at the top contains not only the title and authors' information, but also the map's scales, and a legend explaining the many symbols used. These distinguish cities and towns by their magnitudes, cathedrals, and churches; coastal features such as lighthouses, seaside watch-towers, and anchorages also have specific symbols.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved by Luggert van Anse as early as 1690. We are aware of a single surviving example with his imprint, in the collection of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. While we would have assumed that this plate, like several others of van Anse, would have been employed by Robijn or Allard before being passed to Joachim Ottens, we see no examples with any of their imprints. Instead, we identify a handful of examples with the imprint of Reiner and Joshua Ottens, dated uncertainly between 1730 and 1750. Matthaeus Seutter produced a close copy in 1730 with a similar title; it is a different plate entirely. Only a handful of examples of the present plate have appeared on the market, and we see the map cataloged only in 7 institutional collections.

Cartographers

Ottens (fl. c. 1680 - 1785) was a prominent Amsterdam map publishing family active for nearly 100 years. Joachim Ottens (1663 - 1719) was born in Amsterdam to a family of seafarers and educated in Amsterdam's Evangelical Lutheran community. He likely learned copperplate engraving under Frederick de Wit (1629 - 1706), for whom he worked until about 1710. In 1710, he was admitted to the Sint-Lucasgilde (Guild of St. Luke) and, in 1711, Joachim founded his own firm. Although Joachim died only a few years later, in 1719, his widow continued the business, either publishing as either 'I. Ottens', 'Ottens', or 'In de Wereldcaert' [In the World Map]. In 1726, Joachim Otten's sons, Renier (1698 - 1750) and Joshua (1698 - 1750), established a partnership and generally published as 'R. and I. Ottens'. Although they ran separate shops, on Nieuwendijk and Kalverstraat, they worked jointly as a singular business until Renier's death in 1750, at which point Joshua assumed full control. After Joshua's death in 1765, his widow continued the firm with their son, Renier II, changing the imprint to 'Joshua and Reinier Ottens.' Joshua's widow, Johanna de Lindt, held an auction sale of their engraved plates in 1784. Ottens' work stands out in that all of their maps were separate issues, though often found compiled into special, made-to-order multi-volume composite Atlas factice works, such as the Atlas. Some examples of the Atlas include over 800 separately issued maps. Because they were not uniformly issued in standard atlases, Ottens maps are often of the utmost rarity and are notable for their exceptionally rich engraving.   Further Details...

Luggert van Anse (fl. 1677-1716) was a Dutch map engraver, who worked in the shops of Visscher, van Keulen, and Pieter Husson. He appears to have been prolific, but as is often the case with Dutch engravers employed by larger printers or publishers, he would have been considered more of a workman than an artist, and consequently his education and early life are poorly documented.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Recornered at upper left, with no loss to image. Few marginal mends, and a filled wormhole with virtually no loss.

References

OCLC 902705005.