Introduction

Though topographic surveys have taken place before 1800 we never can be sure whether they are geodetically correct, even when they were surveyed for military purposes. And even when they were not too bad they are either on too small a scale or of too small an area. Before 1800 The Netherlands were never totally surveyed on a large scale and these surveys were never based on a single triangulation network covering the whole country. But since 1800 many large scale surveys have taken place of which the one between 1834 and 1859 was the first complete one on the scale 1:25,000. Since then the countryside has changed drastically in respect of human occupation, landuse and natural components. This means also that many editions of the topographic maps have been produced, some only for military use, some both for military and civilian use. The combination of all these editions forms an enormous amount of topographic data.
For the researcher there are not many places where he can find this "mountain" of data in one piece -with the possible exception of the Topografische Dienst (Topographic Service of the Netherlands, TDN) or the General States Archives- which makes this "mountain" hard to access or to climb.
But now, contrary to all belief, the mountain seems to have come to us, at least its bigger part. Thanks to initiatives taken by individuals, TDN, the General States Archives and the will of publishers to accommodate their clients wishes facsimiles or new, handy editions of modern maps have been published. The mountain also shows new vistas as most facsimiles/new editions have had added something of their own to the original to enrich their use, as e.g. explanatory texts, toponymic indexes or the sheer fact of oversight.