Eighty Years War (Dutch War of Independence) (1568-1648)
Contemporary prints and maps of the battles and sieges of the Eighty Years War
The region surrounding Bergen op Zoom, c.1627-29
TABVLA / Bergarum ad Zomam / Stenbergæ / et novorum ibi operum
c.1629Etching and engraving; printed on paper; mounted on paper (Mount Type A); gilt edges left, bottom and right | Scale: 1:27,000 approx. | RCIN 722008
A map showing the new works and disposition of the Dutch encampment under Colonel Pinsen and Major Brederode at Bergen op Zoom at the time of the siege of Groenlo in 1627. Eighty Years War (Dutch War of Independence) (1568-1648). Oriented with south-east to top (cardinal points).
This map was made 'with precision' (ad amussis) by Frans van Schooten The Elder who was Professor of Mathematics at the Leiden School of Engineering (his son, also Frans van Schooten, took over as Professor on his father's death in 1645). The engineering school had been founded by Maurice of Nassau in order to provide expertise in the sciences, including mapmaking. Frans van Schooten The Elder's brother, Joris (1587-1651), was a painter one of whose pupils was Rembrandt.
The map extends from Steenbergen (51°35ʹ03ʺN 04°19ʹ10ʺE) in the north to Bergen op Zoom in the south and shows the surrounding topography in detail and names the small fortifications; distances between settlements are givien in 'Virgae', probably Rhenish verges.
This map comes from the account of the siege of Groenlo by Hugo de Groot (1583-1645) entitled Groliae obsidio cum annexis anni 1627 which was published by Blaeu in 1629 (Rijksmuseum BI-B-FM-013C-10 and Rijksmuseum Research Library, signatuur 327 I 25 (convoluut), p.24/25). A hand-coloured copy of this map is in the Atlas van Loon (S.1034_(03) ).
Frans van Schooten, the Elder (1581-1645) (surveyor and draughtsman) [below title, in cartouche:] Ad amußim fecit / Francisco van Schoten / Math. Profeßor in / Acad. Leidensi.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638) (publisher) [bottom right, in inset:] Exc. Guiljelmus Blaeuw.
Watermark: Serpent entwined around a cross standing on a base of indeterminate design; countermark: MC
Condition: two fold lines and one crease line to print. One fold to mount, which does not coincide with the print fold; brown spots and slight surface dirt to mount; pressure marks to the verso of mount
Scale: 1:27,000 approx. Scale bar: Virgæ Rhÿnlandicæ. Rhÿnlandsche Roeden. [125 mm =] 900.
22.5 x 53.8 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
40.5 x 54.9 cm (mount)
Printed title:
TABVLA / Bergarum ad Zomam / Stenbergæ / et novorum ibi operum. [top left, in cartouche]
Inset:
[bottom right:] Castra Pinsii. Size: 8.3 x 10.2 cm (neatline).
Additional text:
[bottom right, a translation from Dutch to Latin of the descriptive words engraved on the map:] EXPLICATIO VERBORVM.
Annotations:
George III heading: Bergen op Zoom 1622.
Other annotations: (Recto) [bottom right and top centre, on mount, black pencil:] 1622. (Verso) [right of centre, across mount and map, red pencil:] 1/131 [and, black pencil:] I/135; [top right, on mount, black pencil:] Bergen op Zoom.
George III catalogue entry:
Bergen op Zoom Tabula Bergarum ad Zomam, Stenbergæ et novorum ibi operum; a F. van Schoten, apud Blaeu.
Subject(s)
Bergen op Zoom, North Brabant, Netherlands (51°29'42"N 04°17'30"E)
Bibliographic reference(s)
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 2843
J.J. O'Connor and E.F. Robertson, Frans van Schooten
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
