'Godsdienst en Zendingskaart voor de nieuwe tijd', 1854

This world map was made in 1854, making it one of the first Dutch world mission maps. The map appears to be a design of the maker himself. It is an unusual projection, because the Pacific Ocean and not Europe is depicted in the center.

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Inset maps show the Cape, the British East Indies and the Dutch East Indies. The world religions are indicated by colors: yellow for Protestant, red for Catholic and orange for Orthodox. Blue refers to Islam and white to ‘heathen’ countries. Protestant missions are marked by Greek letters: α (American), β (Dutch), γ (French), δ (German) and ε (English); Catholic stations are indicated by † and mission to Jews with the Hebrew character shin (ש).

This world map by Cornelis Elisa van Koetsveld (1807-93) is exceptional, because most Dutch missionary maps focused on the Dutch colonies. The map was published in 1854 and was reprinted in 1855 in a small booklet containing four 45 x 68.5 cm maps about Biblical Israel (1854), the spread of Christianity in late Antiquity (1846) and the Middle Ages ( 1851), and this 19th-century world mission map (1854). The maps were intended for education of children and were published by J. Oomkens Jz. in Groningen. Few copies of the map have survived, perhaps because it was printed on poor quality paper and because the folded map tore quickly, according to one reviewer. Koetsveld based his maps on the work of German cartographers, in particular the historical church atlas of J.E.T. Wiltsch from 1843.

The maker of the map, Koetsveld, was an author and preacher. In 1878 he became court chaplain to King Willem III at Het Loo palace in Apeldoorn. Koetsveld was also the author of Sketches from the Vicarage in Mastland (1843), a Dickens-like novel about life in a small village. The book was reprinted eight times and translated into English in 1860.