The first edition, first state, of an extremely rare and important sea chart depicting Chesapeake Bay and a portion of present day North Carolina. We owe Arent Roggeveen a great debt, without his atlas entitled ‘Het Brandende Veen’, much of the knowledge of the powerful Dutch West India Company would have been lost. The atlas is significant also in being the first maritime atlas devoted to the Americas. Roggeveen was born in Delfshaven, and moved to Middelburg in 1658, an important centre of shipping and commerce. Skilled at mathematics, navigation, and surveying he taught the pilots of both the Dutch West and East India Companies.

“This is the first Dutch sea chart of Chesapeake Bay on such a scale. The map covers an area larger than the normal John Smith (1612) derivative, extending southwards to Albemarle Sound. A notable feature is the presence of depth soundings from the Delaware River northwards, but none to the south. This reflects the Dutch acquisition of the Swedish colony in 1655 and intimate knowledge of these waters. It is not recorded that either the Dutch or the Spanish charted the waters of the Chesapeake. The configuration of the Delaware peninsula is classically Dutch following the form introduced by Johannes de Laet in 1630. Interestingly the author of that map was Hessel Gerritsz, the official cartographer to the Dutch East India Company at the time. Roggeveen would have had easy access to these original charts.” (Burden).

“With his connections at the Dutch West India Company, Roggeveen had access to all of the manuscript charts at their disposal. It must not be presumed that the company’s charts were all their own. Indeed, many were undoubtedly Spanish in origin. In the book Roggeveen tells us that over twenty years he formed a large collection of manuscript charts. Either way much of the knowledge they contained would not have survived to today without Roggeveen-s Het Brandende Veen. The word Veen, as well as being part of the author’s name, means ‘fen’ in English. The English translation, ‘The Burning Fen’, refers to the practice of burning peat along the coastline to act as beacons for passing ships, indeed the title page illustrates one. Roggeveen’s work was the first of two parts intended as the fourth and fifth of Pieter Goos’ Zeespiegel. A Privilege was granted to Goos on 19 March 1668, at which time they were apparently ready. The reason for the delay in publication is unknown, the first part relating to America did not appear until 1675. Goos died in 1675 and the business passed to his widow who herself died in 1677. Their son, Hendrik, then continued the business and it is assumed that sometime before 1680 he sold the plates of the Brandende Veen to Jacob Robijn, as an edition about this time contains the plates with Robijn imprints but a title page still utilising the Goos name.” (Burden). Refer Burden (1996) no. 231; Burden (2007) no. 451; Koeman (1967-70) IV Rog 1 no. 28; A. E. Nordenskiöld Collection (1979) no. 247; Wooldridge (2012) p. 68.