Map for a new design of fort Nieuw Amsterdam

Title Leupe: Plan van de Nieuwe Fortresse aan de mond van de rivieren Suriname en Commewine.

This map shows what appears to be an early stage of the redesigned fort Nieuw-Amsterdam. At the end of 1733, an agreement between the Society of Surinam and representatives of the colonists to improve Surinam's defences was ratified by the Dutch Estates-General. This design would have been made as part of these plans shortly afterwards. The actual work began in 1736 and dragged on with numerous set-backs, conflicts and delays until 1747. Afterwards, the fort would remain problematic both in terms of maintenance and defence. (For more details on its building history, see under 'documentation', especially the book by Temminck Groll.)

The index to which the letters refer have not been traced.

Scale-bar of 50 Rhineland rods = 128 ‘strepen’.