In 1635, the Dutch captured Cabo de Santo Agostinho from the Portuguese and renamed it St Augustine's Cape. This rare map shows the capture of this colony on the coast of Brazil. The map is from the collection of Mr H. Bos, a legacy to the VU University Library containing unique objects. Bookseller and publisher Jacob Kyns from Amsterdam made the map. As far as we know, there is only one other copy kept in the Bibliothèque National de France in Paris.
The waving Dutch flag
The map shows the coastal profile of Cap Augustyn. Here the situation at the time of the conquest is shown. The numbers at the top of the map refer to where the enemy is sitting. Below the cape's point is the capital A. This is the opening in the reef through which the ships could sail, or ‘tGat daer onse schepen door syn geseylt’. They are besieged from the cape by the Portuguese, but manage to sail on to the island off the coast. Shortly afterwards, the Dutch flag waves there on a fort.
Cap Augustyn was not only a military stronghold, it was also the export port for Portuguese sugar from Pernambuco, the area inland. By 1630, the West India Company had already taken the settlement of Recife near the cape. The Portuguese did not let this get them down. With support from the Spanish, a fleet was equipped and sent to Brazil. This led to the Battle of Recife in 1631. This battle remained undecided with losses of ships on both sides. In 1637, Johan Maurits von Nassau-Siegen founded Maurice's City on the island of Antonio Vaz, opposite Recife. In 1654, the Dutch were still driven out by the Portuguese.
Literature
- Collector of beauty, black past / Sandra Kooke. Following the exhibition ‘Bewogen beeld - In search of Johan Maurits’ at the Mauritshuis. In: Trouw, 4 April 2019.
- Dutch-Brazil on the map: the Dutch in the Atlantic, 1600-1650 / Henk den Heijer and Ben Teensma. Zutphen: Walburg Pers, cop. 2011.
- Grand atlas of the West India Company = Comprehensive atlas of the Dutch West India Company. I, The old WIC 1621-1674 = The old WIC 1621-1674 / Bea Brommer and Henk den Heijer. Voorburg: Asia Maior/Atlas Maior, cop. 2011. p.259-265
- Dutch Brazil in sight: the Bahia documents and the texts of Soler and Baro. Leiden University Library, 2001.
- Imagens de vilas e cidades do Brasil colonial / Nestor Goulart Reis Filho.
- São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo, 2000.
- Special maps in the collection / M.H.G. Clement-van Alkemade, p.342-343. In: A free university library: studies on the past, possession and present of the library of the free university. Van Gorcum: Assen, 1980.
Afteeckeninge vande Cap S. Augustyn
Scale [ca. 1:3,500].
Amsterdam : Jacob Kyns, [c. 1635]
1 map : copper engraving ; 30x36 cm
With legend: Verclaringe der cyfer numbers, A-K, 1-6
Signature: LL.01473gk
Image bank: https://imagebase.ubvu.vu.nl/cdm/ref/collection/krt/id/2448
