View of Suratte
Meurs, Jacob van / Anoniem / Anonymous
View of Suratte.
De stadt Souratte.
Various East Indiamen, dhows and other vessels are depicted lying at anchor or sailing in the harbour.
Dr Olfert Dapper (1636-1689) published a large number of books after 1663. He wrote a history of the city of Amsterdam and furnished the first Dutch translation of Herodotus. But he is known particularly for his many descriptions of foreign lands which he compiled from various sources, without ever seeing the countries he wrote about for himself. This view of Suratte comes from a description of Asia.
The publisher of this volume, Jacob van Meurs, was also an engraver. However it is uncertain whether he was also the engraver of these prints.
Vingboons depicts the same location, but in his watercolour it is not the city of Suratte but Visiapour (which is not correct). Compare with National Archives inv. nr.VELH0619.105.
CF. Koninklijke Bibliotheek, inv. nr. 227K3 part VII after p. 104 and Rijksmuseum, inv. nr. RP-P-1907-2820.
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