Netherlands Map 1795 Sotzmann School Atlas Print - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague

D. F. Sotzmann drew this map of the United Netherlands, or Holland, and Franz engraved it for Sotzmann's collections of maps for schools, published in Berlin around 1795 by the Royal Prussian Academic Art and Bookstore. The sheet measures 25 by 29 centimeters at a scale of 1:1,100,000 and appears as number 28 in an atlas of 35 maps bound in three parts. It is a hand-colored engraving that shows political boundaries, cities, fortifications, topography, vegetation, bodies of water, drainage, coastlines and islands, with relief drawn in hachures. A bar scale, a legend and lines of latitude and longitude support the picture, and the title cartouche sits in the upper left in German. The catalog adds that the atlas, with its marbled boards, leather corners and spine and gilt spine title, is very rare in this complete version, and that Sotzmann's maps surpassed other Prussian works in accuracy.

The provinces are outlined in red, yellow, green and blue, and the great cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague are marked with bold dots beside fortified towns and smaller settlements. The North Sea and the Zuiderzee, spelled in the German of the day, shape the coast, while rivers, lakes and drainage channels cross the low country. The map was made just before the Batavian Republic was set up under French influence, so it records the old United Provinces at the end of their long history. Sotzmann, often called the father of Berlin commercial cartography, was known for accuracy beyond other Prussian publishers, and his school maps favor clarity over decoration.

A collector of German school atlases, a family with roots in Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Utrecht, or anyone who enjoys Enlightenment cartography will find a distinctive gift here. TheMapVault's companion sheet of the Burgundian Circle comes from the same atlas and the same year, whereas this sheet is given to Holland alone. Like every print in the collection, it ships unframed and is available in a full range of sizes, from a compact desk piece to a large-format statement print.