SURINAME 1710ca OTTENS LARGE UNUSUAL ANTIQUE ORIGINAL COPPER ENGRAVED MAP

Nieuwe Kaart van Suriname vertonende de stromen en land-streken van Suriname, Comowini, Cottica, en Marawini, gelegen in Zuid America op de kusten van Caribana. 6 gr. benoorden de Linie Equinoct. meet naauwkerige aanwyzinge van alle de Steden, Sterktens en Plantagien mitsgaders de diepte der Stromen en Bnaken volgens de nieuwste waarnemingen. T Amsterdam by J. Ottens.

Description: Striking and highly detailed fine unusual 1710 approx. J. Ottens's copper engraved map of Suriname, highlighting the extensive Jewish settlements in the region.
 
As early as the late 1630s, fleeing persecution in Europe, Spanish, Dutch and Italian Jews had migrated to the English colony along the Surinam River, in the old capital, Torarica, on the left bank. As the French and Portuguese increased their influence in South America, more Jewish settlers arrived.  By 1652, a group of English Jews arrived and founded their own township further upstream near the Cassipora creek.
 
In an unusual display of tolerance, the British granted the Jewish community privileges including freedom of religion, the right to form a private militia and permission to build synagogues and schools.
 
In 1667 the Dutch commander Abraham Crijnssen captured Surinam, but left the privileges intact. Most of Joden Savanna was destroyed by fire in 1832 and the inhabitants moved away. In a bizarre twist the area was used as an internment camp for Dutch Nazis during World War II. The map is marked with 'Ioods Dorp en Sinagoge," the location of the Synagogue established in 1671. 
 
The map records the names of dozens of Jewish plantation owners, the vast majority along the Surinam River in the vicinity. (Richard Gottheil, “Contributions to the History of the Jews in Surinam”) The latter was first settled in 1635 and was the first permanent Jewish settlement in the Americas.

Major Rivers: The Suriname, Comowini (Commewijne), Cottica, and Marawini (Marowijne) rivers are mapped.
 
Settlements: The small blocks and names along the rivers indicate individual plantations and forts of the period.

Date: 1710 approx. ( undated )

Dimension: Paper size approx.: cm 53,4  x 41,4

Condition: Very strong and dark impression on good paper. Paper with chains and wiremark. Map old original colored. Map heavy browned. Small holes affecting the map. Map folded. Conditions are as you can see in the images.

Mapmakers: Ottens (fl. c. 1680 - 1785) was a prominent Amsterdam map publishing family active for nearly 100 years. Joachim Ottens (1663 - 1719) was born in Amsterdam to a family of seafarers and educated in Amsterdam's Evangelical Lutheran community. He likely learned copperplate engraving under Frederick de Wit (1629 - 1706), for whom he worked until about 1710. In 1710, he was admitted to the Sint-Lucasgilde (Guild of St. Luke) and, in 1711, Joachim founded his own firm. Although Joachim died only a few years later, in 1719, his widow continued the business, either publishing as either 'I. Ottens', 'Ottens', or 'In de Wereldcaert' [In the World Map]. In 1726, Joachim Otten's sons, Renier (1698 - 1750) and Joshua (1698 - 1750), established a partnership and generally published as 'R. and I. Ottens'. Although they ran separate shops, on Nieuwendijk and Kalverstraat, they worked jointly as a singular business until Renier's death in 1750, at which point Joshua assumed full control. After Joshua's death in 1765, his widow continued the firm with their son, Renier II, changing the imprint to 'Joshua and Reinier Ottens.' Joshua's widow, Johanna de Lindt, held an auction sale of their engraved plates in 1784. Ottens' work stands out in that all of their maps were separate issues, though often found compiled into special, made-to-order multi-volume composite Atlas factice works, such as the Atlas. Some examples of the Atlas include over 800 separately issued maps. Because they were not uniformly issued in standard atlases, Ottens maps are often of the utmost rarity and are notable for their exceptionally rich engraving.