1670 / 1680 Frederic De Wit Map of Norway

A Groundbreaking Dutch Map of Norway.

This beautifully engraved map is Frederick De Wit's c. 1688 map of Norway. Ginsberg's typically coy praise should ring loudly: 'We Wit's map of Norway... attests to his originality and skill. Here is a representation that truly merits being called a map of the country,' that country being Norway. None of this map's precursors focused so well on Norway itself, and with such detail as this.

A Closer Look

The map spans from Gotia in the south to the diocese of Nidaros (Trondheim is on the map, here spelled Drondthem). Beyond the Trondheim Fjord, the northernmost parts of Norway are included in the inset map appearing in the upper left corner of the map. Bahus is included as part of Norway; the right-hand portion of the map includes the political divisions of neighboring Sweden. The decorative cartouche is crowned with evergreen trees, in a nod to Norway's profitable forests. Four putti lounge about, one displaying an animal fur (another of Norway's trade goods) while two play with conches, referring to Norway's nautical proclivities.

Publication History and Census

This map was produced by De Wit in 1688; the addition of a title for the upper left identifies this as the 1688-89 third state of this map, according to Carhart's cartobibliography. The map is well represented in institutional collections in its various states.

Cartographer

Frederik de Wit (1629 - 1706) was a Dutch Golden Age cartographer active in the second half of the 17th and the early 18th centuries. De Wit was born of middle class Protestant stock in the western Netherlandish town of Gouda. He relocated to Amsterdam sometime before 1648, where he worked under Willem Blaeu. His first attributed engraved map, a plan of Haarlem for Antonius Sanderus' Flandria Illustrata, was issued around this time. He struck out on his own in 1654. The first chart that De Wit personally both drew and engraved was most likely his 1659 map of Denmark, REGNI DANIÆ Accuratissima delineatio Perfeckte Kaerte van ‘t CONJNCKRYCK DENEMARCKEN. His great wall map of the world and most famous work, Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula appeared one year later. Following the publication of his wall map De Wit quickly rose in prominence as a both cartographer and engraver. He married Maria van der Way in 1661 and through her became a citizen of Amsterdam in 1662. Around this time he also published his first major atlas, a composite production ranging in size from 17 to over 150 maps and charts. Other atlases and individual maps followed. In 1689 De Wit was granted a 15 year Privilege by the Dutch States General. (An early copyright that protected the recipient's rights to print and publish.) He was recognized with the honorific 'Good Citizen' in 1694. De Wit died in 1706 after which his wife Maria continued publishing his maps until about 1710. De Wit's son, Franciscus, had no interest in the map trade, instead choosing to prosper as a stockfish merchant. On her own retirement, Maria sold most De Wit maps and plates at a public auction. Most were acquired by Pieter Mortier and laid the groundwork for the 1721 rise of Covens and Mortier, the largest Dutch cartographic publishing house of the 18th century.   Further Details...

Source

Wit, F., Atlas (Amsterdam) 1688.    

Condition

Average. Severe cracking along lines of oxidation from original color, with some loss. Trimmed at top, bottom and left into border.

References

OCLC 159850583. Rumsey 11755.019 (tipped into Visscher atlas). Ginsberg, W. B., Maps and Mapping of Norway 1602 - 1855. #6. Carhart, G., Frederick De Wit and the First Concise Reference Atlas map 81.3