Nova Belgica, 1635

North is to the right. Willem Blaeu, the premier Dutch mapmaker of the Golden Age, published this map of New England and New York based on the 1614 explorations of Adrian Block, a fur trader who sailed the southern coast of New England. It is the first printed map to show details of the interior of the region. The margins are filled with North American motifs, Native American villages and canoes, bears, beavers, and turkeys, all drawn by European artists who had never seen the continent.

  • The beaver in the interior. Blaeu's engravers drew it from secondhand descriptions, and it shows.
  • The Native American village scenes along the left margin, complete with longhouses and figures.
  • The coastline from Long Island north to Cape Cod. Block sailed this route in a single season.

All prints are high-quality reproductions made from museum-grade scans at 300 DPI. Depending on the original scan dimensions, some prints may include white fill along the edges.

From $29.00