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Description

The Early Modern Search for the Northwest Passage

Fine second state of Van Keulen's chart of Hudson’s Bay and Arctic Canada, with the addition of the privilege that was omitted from the first state, but with Teppa Nova not yet corrected to Terra Nova.

The map shows the region around the elusive Northwest Passage and the entrance to Hudson's Bay. It stretches from Greenland, in the east, to the western end of Hudson’s Bay. To the south it includes Labrador and Nova Scotia, both major fishing grounds.

Sections of coastline are not definitively drawn—the area beckoned for further exploration. Several inlets are also unfinished; any of them, it was thought, might be a waterway to the Pacific.

In addition to the various place names bequeathed by John Davis, Henry Hudson, Thomas James, Martin Frobisher, and others, there are two large sections of text on mainland North America. The first, in New South Wales, discusses the observation of the tides and winds by Thomas Button, who sought the passage in 1612-13. The other, in Nova Britannia, discuss the same subjects as observed by Henry Hudson in his overwintering in 1610-11.

The map has several decorative elements as well. The compass roses are finely wrought and two ships are sailing through the seas. Vignettes of trade surround the scale bars in the lower left corner. A hunting scene is the stage for the title cartouche in the upper right.

Lineage and states of the map

This map is based upon a similar work by Van Loon from 1666. Compared to Van Loon’s chart, however, this one extends farther to the south and east. It is nearly identical to the map as issued by Hendrik Doncker in 1678; Doncker’s shop was located just across the street from Van Keulen’s and the Van Keulens would acquire Doncker’s plates and stock in 1693.

Drawn by the mathematician Claas Jansz Vooght, who drew many maps for the Van Keulen firm, it appeared in the fourth volume of the popular Zee-Fakkel (Sea Torch).

This chart was prepared before it received a privilege in 1680. Thus, a first state was published without the privilege; there is only one known example of this state. This example, a second state with the privilege, is the earliest obtainable example of the map. Impressively, this map was part of the fourth volume for its entire publication run, until 1783, a period of 103 years.

Burden lists four states for this map.

State 1: 1680, published without the privilege. Known in only one example at the Maritiem Museum ‘Prins Hendrik’, Rotterdam.

State 2: 1681, published with the privilege.

State 3: 1720, Teppa Nova has been corrected to Terra Nova, part of southeast Greenland has been re-engraved, mountains have been added across the map. Several new placenames are now present (Bay Hudson). Known in only one example at the Library of Congress.

State 4: ca. 1728, coastlines north of the Davis Strait have been re-engraved and named.

Reference
Kershaw, plate 131; Burden, map 515. KAP
Gerard Van Keulen Biography

The Van Keulens were a family of chartmakers and publishers. The firm, In de Gekroonde Lootsman (In the Crowned Pilot), was founded in 1678 by Johannes van Keulen (1654-1715). Van Keulen originally registered his business as a vendor of books and instruments (specifically cross-staffs). In 1680, however, he gained a privilege from the States of Holland and West Friesland for the publication of pilot guides and sea atlases.

In that year, van Keulen released his Zee-Atlas (Sea Atlas), which secured him a name in the competitive maritime publishing market. In 1681, he published the first volume of Nieuwe Lichtende Zee-Fakkel (New Shining Sea Torch). This would be the first of an eventual five volumes originally published between 1680 and 1684. A sixth volume was added in 1753. The Zee-Fakel won van Keulen lasting fame. The atlas had charts compiled by Claes Jansz Vooght and artwork from Jan Luyken. It proved immensely popular and was reprinted until 1783. There were translations in French, English, Spanish, and Italian.

The late-seventeenth century was an auspicious time to enter the maritime chart business. Previous industry leaders had either closed shop, died, or retired, leaving space for a new competitor. Van Keulen proceeded to buy up the stock and privileges of several maritime publishing firms; the most notable was the stock of Hendrik Doncker, acquired in 1693.

Johannes’ son, Gerard (1678-1726) took over the business upon his father’s death. Gerard was a skilled engraver and mathematician. His talents were noticed, as in 1706 he was named as Hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

In turn, Gerard’s son Johannes II (1704-1770) came to run the shop. He was also tied to the VOC, and his role as their chartmaker allowed his charts to be considered as quasi-official government documents. It is with access to formerly clandestine VOC geographic knowledge that Johannes the Younger was able to add a sixth volume to the Zee-Fakkel, which covered the East Indies. Johannes also continued to sell instruments, including the recently-invented Hadley’s Quadrant from 1744.

When Johannes II died in 1770, his widow ran the business in his stead, aided by her two sons, Cornelis Buys (1736-1778) and Gerard Hulst (1733-1801). Now a century old, the family business had extended to include an anchor factory. After Cornelis died in 1778, Gerard took on the management of the firm alone. He oversaw the introduction of sextants to their inventory and published the Dutch Nautical Almanac beginning in 1788. Annual editions appeared until 1885. Gerard also served as an original member of the Dutch Commission for Longitude at Sea from 1787.

Gerard’s widow ran the business for nine years after his death, when their son, Johannes Hulst, started to lead the firm in 1810. After his death in 1844, the firm passed out of family hands and into the control of Jacob Swert, a skilled cartographer who had worked for the business for two decades. He passed the work to his son, another Jacob, in 1866. By the mid-nineteenth century, the conversion from sail to steam had diminished the size of the market for charts. Fewer sailors needed fewer maps, charts, and instruments. In 1885, after 207 years in business, In de Gekroonde Lootsman closed its doors and auctioned its stock.