VISSCHER, Nicolaes (1618-1679).
Novi Belgii Novaeque Angliae nec non partis Virginiae tabula multis in locis emendata a Nicolao Joannis Visschero.
Engraved map with original hand color in full.
Amsterdam: Nicolas Jansz Visscher, 1656 [Second state].
19 3/4" x 23" sheet.

Comparable: Sotheby's, 2008 - $7,500.

Although this map, originally published in 1655, is largely derived from Jansson's map of 1651, it is extremely important for providing a view of Manhattan island. This is probably the second published view of New York (according to Burden), the first being that of Joost Hartgers in 1651. Stokes places the date of the view in the autumn of 1652 since the building on the far left was not constructed until April 1652. In addition, a wall was constructed for security in 1653 which does not appear in this view. The second state of the map is the earliest available to collectors, as the first state is of extreme rarity, with only three copies known.

Improvements on the Jansson map included the addition of the Zuyder Zee below Cape Cod, Chesapeach became Chesapeack, and on Long Island sound Milfort and Ailfort became Strotfort and Milfort respectively. t'kocks Rack is added on the west bank of the Hudson River near Manhattan.

The second state of the map was also the source of the first boundary dispute between William Penn and Lord Baltimore of Maryland. Penn contested two points. First was Lord Baltimore's belief that his charter included the Dutch settlements on the east side of the Delmarva Peninsula. Second, Penn questioned whether Baltimore's northern boundary should be at the 40o of north latitude as accurately surveyed or at the latitude where it was thought to have been in 1632 when Baltimore's charter was granted. In 1685, the Privy Council decided in Pennsylvania's favor, and the Delmarva Peninsula was divided equally from the 40o of latitude as far south as Cape Henlopen, with Visscher's map used in that determination.

Unfortunately Visscher placed Cape Henlopen twenty-five miles too far south; it was actually located at the protrusion of land that the mapmaker called Cape Cornelius. Because of that, Baltimore lost thousands of acres to Penn.

Burden, The Mapping of America, no. 315; Deak, Picturing America, nos. 38 and 42; Pritchard & Taliaferro, Degrees of Latitude, no. 11 (2nd state); Stokes, Iconography of Manhattan Island, I:119-132, 146-148; Tooley, Mapping of America, p. 284 (2nd state).