IMAGES OF EAST AND WEST: MAPS, PLANS, VIEWS
AND DRAWINGS FROM DUTCH COLONIAL ARCHIVES
PART II: THE COLLECTION OF THE MINISTRY OF THE COLONIES, 1814-1963
National Archives of the Netherlands, The Hague
On microfiche
Historical background
The collection of maps and drawings of the Ministry of the Colonies (MIKO) consists of printed and manuscript material. The collection was formed starting in 1814, but also contains some materials from the Batavian Republic and French annexation of the Netherlands (1795-1813) and even earlier periods. It is the successor to and continuation of the collections contained in Part I of "Images of East and West" as inventoried by Leupe and l'Honoré Naber.
In the first half of the nineteenth century the Ministry of the Colonies acquired collections of maps and drawings that had belonged to officials who had worked for the Dutch East India Company and its successors. These collections were deposited in the collections of the Ministry itself. Four of them deserve special mention:
— Jan Theunis Busscher: He was active in the mapping and charting of the East Indies from 1790 until 1836.
— Nicolaus Engelhard: From 1801 to 1808 Governor of Java's Northeastern Shore.
— Johan Gideon Loten: Governor of Makassar (1743-1749) and Governor of Ceylon (1752-1759).
— H.A. von Henrici: From 1832 to 1838 leader of the effort to explore and map Borneo.
Areas mapped
Most of the maps and drawings in MIKO concern the former colonial possessions of the Netherlands in Asia (in particular in present-day Indonesia), Africa (possessions on the Gold Coast, present-day Ghana) and South America (present-day Surinam and the Dutch Antilles). In addition there are items concerning overseas territories with which trading contacts were maintained (for example China and Japan) and the colonies of other european powers, such as British Guyana, India and South Africa.
Types of maps
The maps and drawings of former Dutch territories have to do with specific issues of policy, including defense, commercial agriculture, navigation, communication, overland transportation and public works. The printed maps were meant to provide colonial administrators with a composite picture of these policy concerns and to give them a wealth of visual and statistical information to help them in planning and administration.
Importance of collection
The survey maps in the MIKO collection give reliable, detailed information on areas of Asia and South America at moments in the past.
The collection is also important for the study of architecture and city planning and research into colonial policy making in general since it was created specifically as a tool for policy. It contains numerous manuscript maps and drawings concerning the construction of military works.
The present publication will interest not only historians and art historians but also engineering bureaus concerned
with the territories covered in connection with present-day projects and of course universities, institutes and
government agencies in the former colonial possessions whose history is contained in this material held by the
National Archives of the Netherlands.
Also available
Images of East and West: Part I, The Early Period, 1583-1814
Order no.: M303
Size: 1,519 microfiches
(six images per microfiche)
Price: € 5,980
Special combined price Parts I & II:€ 12,175
(total separately € 13,530)