Blaeu, Joan “Veere.” [Netherlands]

Joan Blaeu (1596-1673).  “Veere.”  [Netherlands].  From Novum Magnum Theatrum Urbium Belgicae LiberaeAc. Foederatae. 

Amsterdam: Blaeu, 1649+. 16 x 20 ¼ (neat lines).  Engraving.  Original hand color.  Latin text.  Very good condition.  Ref.: Koeman: Bl 62 (60). 

This town is in the southwest Netherlands in Zeeland Province.  The population in 2001 was about 1,500 with about 300 houses.  In the Seventeenth and Eirghteenth Centuries there were about 750 houses.  The town was officially chartered in 1355, and from 1541 to 1799 it was the staple port for Scotland across the English Chanel.  The Blaeu Townbooks of the Netherlands are favorite plans and towns for historians and collectors in the Netherlands.  Joan Blaeu was finishing his planned 220 illustrations in 1648 as the Treaty of Westphalia was concluding the war between Spain an the Dutch Republic so the spheres of influence of many towns would be uncertain.  Veere was included in the first of two volumes which contained towns in the Protestant North.  The other volume contained the Catholic towns (for the most part) which became Belgium.