Gallery: Research Collections:

“Novi Belgii Novaeque Angliae Non Partis Virginiae…”
(“New Netherland and New England Not Part of Virginia…”),
Map ca. 1690

Frequently referred to as “the Visscher Map” and named after Nicolaes Visscher (1649–1702), its first publisher, this map is one of many items— letters, account books, journals, other maps— related to New York’s Dutch heritage that is found in the collections of the New York State Library. The map depicts the area in 1651–55. The inset view is the village of New Amsterdam on the island of Manhattan. “Novi Belgii” is often thought to translate as “New Belgium”; however, Belgii refers to the tribes that the ancient Romans found in the area we now know as The Netherlands, not to Belgium, which didn’t exist as a country until 1830.

Original size 46.5 x 55.5 cm. New York State Library/Manuscripts and Special Collections [Map (747) 1690, Novi Belgii Novaeque Angliae Non Partis Virginiae… (New Netherland and New England Not Part of Virginia…), 1690] This map is on permanent loan to the New York State Museum and can be seen in the East Gallery of the museum.