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DRAINING THE HAARLEMMERMEER: MAPS & EQUIPMENT
LYNDEN VAN HEMMEN, Frans Godert van. Kaarten en Plaat behoorende bij de Verhandeling over het Droogmaken der Haarlemmermeer.
[Den Haag etc.], [Gebroeders Van Cleef], [1821]. Colombier folio (52 x 41 cm). Atlas of 4 double-page map sheets containing 3 large (35.5 x 74 & 45 x 67 cm) and 6 small (23 x 22 cm) maps, and 1 full-page plate with 5 figures showing different kinds of pumps, all the maps drawn by J.J. Ligtenberg and engraved in the Amsterdam workshop of Cornelis van Baarsel and son; the plate engraved by Leonardus Schweickhart. Designed to accompany the 1821 proposal for draining the lake. With the title on a letterpress label. Original paper-covered boards, the spine blue and the sides brown, with the publisher's title-label on the front board.
| Orders and Information | € 700 |
Rare atlas published to accompany Baron Van Lynden van Hemmen's revolutionary 1821 proposal to drain the Haarlemmermeer, the large inland lake to the south-west of Amsterdam, using steam-powered pump stations: Verhandeling over de Droogmaking van de Haarlemmer-Meer. In fact, the lake was not actually drained until 1852. The large maps show the province of Holland as it was in 1575; the same region in 1820, showing the polders that had been created by drainage projects to that date; and the proposed polder to be created by draining the Haarlemmermeer, with depths indicated and the proposed parcels of land deliniated. The remaining double-page map sheet contains six maps reconstructing the historical progression of the lake from 1531 to ca. 1800 (it grew to perhaps six times its original size). The plate shows three different kinds of pumps: an Archimedes screw and 3 sorts of wheels. The atlas stands out for its fine recontructive maps and its representations of the Haarlemmermeer. Particularly remarkable is the reworking of Melchior Bolstra's famous 1740 map (also included in his 1746 atlas for the Rijnland water board). Although the atlas is a milestone in Dutch cartography and a primary source for the plans to drain the Haarlemmermeer, the accuracy of the historical maps suffered from a lack of critical examination of the sources.
The maps are printed on extremely large sheets of wove paper watermarked (at the centre of one long edge): "J H & Z" (that is, J. Honig & zonen). The text-volume is not present. The maps and plate are in fine condition, with only a minor water-stain in the corner, not affecting the images. The binding is damaged at the corners and spine. Splendid large maps of Holland and the Haarlemmermeer, showing the history of their drainage and the new proposals.
