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Kaart van de Graafschappen Buuren en Culenburg, neffens de aangrensende Oude Abdy van Marienwaard he....
Commentary

This beautifully decorated map shows an overview of the counties of Buren and Culemborg. The map was published in 1761 by the Amsterdam publishing house Covens & Mortier. The engraving is by Jan Punt (1711-1779).

The map was drawn by Jacob Perrenot (1694-1767), who was originally from Switzerland. Perrenot studied law in Leiden and obtained his doctorate there in 1739. He then moved to Culemborg, where he was a member of the County Council for a long time. For his own amusement, he began to survey and map his home area. This survey map of his own region is an example of that.

Perrenot dedicated the map to William V, Prince of Orange and Grand Duke. This dedication can be found in the sumptuous title cartouche at bottom centre. This makes it clear that the representation of Vijfheerenlanden was based on the wall map of that area, published by the Ottens firm in 1741. To the left of the title cartouche is a profile of the town of Culemborg.

On the far left is a large cartouche with 'Onderrigting'. This gives a brief history of the water management of the area shown. It also lists the size of the underlying sub-areas, which are important for the water tax. Finally, the map shows the dike breaches of 1726, 1740, 1741, 1744 and 1751.

An interesting aspect of the map is the road classification, which Perrenot used systematically. For example, a distinction was made between dyke roads, gentlemen's roads, cross roads and sandy paths. He also used specific symbols for real estate, including castles with moats, common houses, chapels, churches, corn mills, water mills, other mills and country houses without moats.