La Haie

Finely engraved plan of The Hague in Holland. Based on Blaeu's map of the same city.

De Fer (1646-1720) was the son of a prominent engraver and produced his first map in 1669. He joined his father's business in 1673 and ultimately took over in 1687. He was a prolific map maker who produced over six hundred separate maps in multiple forms; as separate issues, bound within history and travel books, and as atlases. In the late 17th century he was made Geographer to the Dauphin.

This beautiful 18th century map of The Hague is based on the larger map by Joan Blaeu published in the mid 17th century. Blaeu's map was certainly inspired by the map within the Civitates Orbis Terrarum by Braun and Hogenberg issued in the late 16th century, although he has developed it.

As was usual with de Fer, due to the size constraint of the Atlas Curieux, he has not attempted to show individual buildings but rather he focuses on the main monuments and churches while the urban landscape is shown as blocks. [NETH1207]