Brussels International
Map Collectors' Circle
The Atlas van Stolk Foundation, housed at the Historical Museum in Rotterdam, recently was bestowed with a unique collection of 17th and 18th century maps. The donors, Dick Blonk and Joanna Blonk-van der Wijst, both medical doctors by profession, now retired, started collecting 30 years ago, almost accidentally, as Dick recollects in a 7-minute video-recording that can be watched in the exhibition-room. Blonk was looking for a present for a colleague, receiving his doctorate. Browsing through prints at a small antique-shop, he found his gift, an old print of Rotterdam. In the process, however, he also came across some old maps and it was, as he says love at first sight. Historical cartography of the Netherlands became Dick's, and gradually also his wife's, passionate hobby. The result, although still ongoing, is an impressive collection of maps of Holland and of the Dutch Republic of the Seven Provinces.
It is the latter collection, comprising approximately 200 maps that was given to the Atlas van Stolk and of which 57 maps now are on display until 6 October 2003. With the exception of two older introductory-maps, the exhibition covers the period 1648-1795. With the peace-treaty of Münster in 1648, ending the 80-year revolt against Spain, the independent status of the Seven Provinces was officially established. In 1795, after a revolution imported from France, a new republic was formed: the Bataafse Republiek, ending the Republic of the Seven Provinces.
The exhibition is a fête de recognition: maps by all the famous publishing houses in that era. However, small gems by lesser known cartographers equally are a feast for the eye and a trigger to one's interest.
Early 2004 will see the publication of a book entitled De Kaart van de Republiek der VII Provincien, 1615-1797. Together with co-author H.A.M. van der Heijden, Dick Blonk no doubt will also be describing his own, now donated, collection. No details are available yet on size and price of the book, but the publisher is Canaletto and the ISBN will be 9064697876. This is not Blonk's first book though. In 2000 he and his wife published Hollandia Comitatus, a carto-bibliography on the province of Holland.
De Zeven Provincien, Exhibition of maps of the Netherlands from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Rotterdam Historical Museum Het Schielandhuis, Korte Hoogstraat 31, Rotterdam, tel +31(0)10-2176724. Last exhibtion day 5 October 2003. 64-page full colour catalogue available for EUR 10.00. The catalogue can also be ordered by mail by writing to Atlas van Stolk, Korte Hoogstraat 31, NL-3011GK Rotterdam.
by Aart van den Dool, Rotterdam