3. Facsimile editions of cadastral and early topographic maps

3.1. Facsimiles of cadastral atlases 1816-1831

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Photo 2. Five series of facsimile cadastral atlases.

The Land Registry Office was introduced in The Netherlands by the French in 1811. During the years 1811-1831 10 to 17,000 cadastral plans were made of the whole country -each municipality with its own triangulation-network- on scales 1:250, 1:2,500 and 1:5,000, each according to the characteristics of the area mapped. The main purpose was to be able to levy land-taxes, but also to create a system of legal security concerning proprietary rights and other rights on real estate (2). The present land-registry system is still based on the 1811-1832 situation. As with the early 19th century topographic maps they give an excellent image of the situation before the big spatial changes of the second half of the 19th century, because they combine a very detailed map-image with an extensive identity-registration. (19) Unfortunately they do not give many details of the topography though they were used, until 1932, a.o. as basic maps for the compilation of all Dutch topographic and urban maps (5).

Facsimile-editions of the first edition of the cadastral maps are published since 1985. The facsimile-maps are island-maps, as they have been surveyed per cadastral municipality and section, not taking into account neighbouring cadastral municipalities. The scale varies between 1:1,000 and 1:5,000. Each parcel has been numbered. The maps are accompanied by the OAT's (original list of owners), which give information about the name, profession and domicile of the owner or usufructuary, kind of buildings or landuse. At the moment there are facsimiles of cadastral atlases published in 8 provinces. Per province a society has been founded which will publish the cadastral minute-plans together with the list of parcels and owners of 1832. All maps have been reduced from their original format of 70 x 100 cm to A3 (ca. 30 x 42 cm). But the publication of the provinces of Friesland, Drenthe, Gelderland, Overijssel, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Zeeland en Noord-Brabant differ considerable in size and lay-out. The amount of maps per atlas may vary from 4 to 80. Unfortunately the size of some of the atlases makes them difficult to store. At the moment some 60 atlases have been published.

As the original cadastral maps were not printed copies could be obtained only from the provincial cadastral offices. So regarding accessibility the facsimiles are a big improvement.

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Photo 3. Cadastral island maps with tables of owners.

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Photo 4. Index of a cadastal island map.

The following facsimiles are reproduction of maps which were produced before systematic topographic mapping, covering the whole of the country, started.

3.2. Atlas topographique van het frontier des IJssels, Wedde en Westwoldingerland [1783]. Alphen a/d Rijn : Canaletto, 1983/1988

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Photo 5. Atlas topographique van het frontier des IJssels, Wedde en Westwoldingerland [1783].

One of the first examples of homogeneous military mapping. However the lands were surveyed and mapped by several engineers (Van Hooff, Van Kesteren, Snoeck, Wollant and Van der Wijck), which is shown sometimes through inconsistencies. Besides that the map was too much military oriented to give enough detail. It was executed on the scale 1:14.400 (100 Rhineland rods to 1 inch) and consisted of 31 sheets, each measuring 58 x 96 cm.
The map was facsimiled in 83 sheets, reduced to the scale 1:25,000 and measuring each 40 x 55 cm, except the original sheets S,T,U,X,Y and Z and were published in 2 parts of the series "Historische buitenplaatsen van Nederland" (8)

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Photo 6. 1 volume of the series "Historische buitenplaatsen van Nederland"

3.3. Topographische kaart van de Veluwezoom door M.J. de Man [1802-1807]. Alphen a/d Rijn : Canaletto, 1984.
To fill in a gap in the future Krayenhoff-map M.J. de Man was commissioned to survey the Veluwe in the central Netherlands. He did so between 1802 and 1807 with one assistant-engineer. The map was produced in 1812 on the scale 1:14.943. For the borders maps of 3 other surveyors were used. It gives a detailed impression of the area, showing landuse, vegetation and relief.
In 1984 a facsimile in colour of 38 sheets (originally there were 39 sheets), each measuring 40 x 57 cm, and reduced to scale 1:25,000 was published. (9)

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Photo 7. Topographische kaart van de Veluwezoom door M.J. de Man [1802-1807]

3.4. Tranchot-map 1802-1820. Maastricht : Stichting 'Maaslandse Monografieen', 1967
From 1802 onwards J.J. Tranchot executed a triangulation of the area between the rivers Meuse and Rhine. Field-surveys started in 1803 on the scale 1:10,000, but in 1804 the scale became 1:20.000. The survey was more detailed than the one for the Cassini-map, but the resulting map doesn't show altrimetric-data. The relief has been beautifully executed, however. Furthermore all names have been executed according to a graphic classification.
The area west of the Meuse was surveyed in 1819-1820 by the Dutch topographic survey, while the area of the Rhineland was surveyed by the Prussians between 1816 and 1820. This resulted in the 264 sheet 'Tranchot-Muefflingsche Aufnahme rheinischer Gebiete 1:20.000', which was in first instance used for military purposes The 38 "Dutch" sheets, reduced to the scale 1:25,000, were reproduced in 1967 by the Landesvermessungsamt Nordrhein-Westfalen on order of a Dutch publisher. The motif was the fact that the map showed a rather wide topographic spectrum making it into a rich source for historical-geographical research. (10)

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