Novum Amsterodamum (New York).

This is a lovely impression of one of the earliest prints of New York. The view shows the small settlement of New Amsterdam, located on the southern tip of Manhattan. The Dutch first settled in the area in the 1620’s, at which time they purchased the island from the Indians for the staggering sum of $24. In 1664 New Amsterdam was captured by the British and renamed New York, in honor of James, the Duke of York. With the exception of the period between 1673 and 1674, when it was recaptured by the Dutch and named New Orange, it remained under British control until the American Revolution. There is some debate as to the source of the original drawing, but it is generally accepted that it is based on a sketch by Laurens Hermansz Block, a Dutch artist who visited New York in 1650 aboard the merchant vessel, Lydia. Taken from the harbor, the view depicts the settlement as it would have been in 1651. There is nothing more than a few wooden buildings, including a church with a steeple and a windmill, but the settlement is described by Ogilby as containing over four hundred houses, which was considered an extremely large town.