Happy Thanksgiving from The Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division! Come see Willem Janszoon Blaeu's Nova Belgica et Anglia Nova in person at the fabulous Mapping New York's Shoreline 1609-2009 exhibition, open today and the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving in the Gottesman Exhibition Hall located on the first floor of the Stephan A. Schwarzman Building.

Blaeu, Willem
Nova Belgica et Anglia Nova
[1635?]

Dutch cartographers of the 17th century were eager to portray not only the mountains, lakes, rivers, coasts, cities and fortifications in the New Netherlands colony, but also the diverse biogeography of the new world, as you can see in this map, reassuring the colonial sponsors that theirs was a land of plenty, with enough beaver, bear, fox, rabbit and deer pelts to go around, and that there was no shortage of turkey to eat!

Catalog Record

Digital Gallery Image