Novissima et Accuratissima Comitatus Flandriae Tabula is a triumphant summation of early-eighteenth-century knowledge and taste, charting the storied country of Flanders from Zeeland south to Arras and from the fortressed strand of Gravelines east to Brussels. The western littoral of the Low Countries unfurls along the North Sea with surf-cut sandbanks, estuaries, and guarded harbors, while the interior is a chessboard of towns, roads, and waterways. A richly engraved title cartouche commands the lower left, its confident flourish emblematic of the period’s grand manner. Around it spirals a meticulously articulated world of cities—Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Mechelen—and riverine corridors that braid trade, politics, and geography into a single, bracingly clear image of a land both strategic and prosperous.

The map celebrates the enduring artistry of Frederik De Wit, the eminent Amsterdam cartographer whose balance of precision and ornament set a standard across Europe. De Wit’s plates, later acquired by Covens & Mortier, were reissued with the vigor of a powerful publishing house that made Dutch cartography the lingua franca of learned travelers and statesmen. Their 1721 edition preserves De Wit’s hallmarks: legible hierarchies of place, confidently drawn coasts, and an aesthetic discipline that turns data into design. The decorative program—title cartouche, neatline embellishments, and refined lettering—synthesizes workshop virtuosity with mercantile practicality, ensuring the map enchants the eye while instructing the mind.

Political nuance is the map’s quiet engine. Borders between French, Spanish, and Dutch dominions are crisply distinguished, evoking a frontier where sovereignty was negotiated town by town. To the south and west, Lille, Arras, and Dunkirk stand as muscular French nodes, their proximity to the sea and the Flemish plains signaling both opportunity and threat. Northward and eastward, the Flemish heartland—Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, and Mechelen—appears as a confluence of authority and commerce, with jurisdictions interleaving in the complex tapestry typical of the Low Countries. Drawn in the aftermath of the century’s great wars, the delineations capture a precarious equilibrium—an anatomy of power poised between competing crowns and republics.

Hydrography anchors the composition. The Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse, with their distributaries and tidal mouths, define a low-lying delta where land and water continually bargain for space. The Scheldt’s reach toward Antwerp and the canal-laced approaches to Ghent and Bruges speak to centuries of engineered waterways, polders, and sluices that turned marsh into market. Along the foaming North Sea, the coastline from Gravelines past Dunkirk and up to Zeeland is finely scalloped, each inlet and sandbar a note in a navigational score. Roads thread this aqueous world into a coherent network, binding Middelburg, Rotterdam, Brussels, and the inland towns into patterns of exchange as elegant as they are practical.

Beyond borders and banks, the map radiates the cultural and economic heritage that made Flanders the crucible of modern capitalism. It quietly points to the bourses, countinghouses, and guild halls that animated cities like Antwerp and Bruges, and to the financial and maritime infrastructures that would soon propel the Dutch-speaking world toward new forms of governance. The dense constellation of towns and market roads, paired with the river system’s arterial logic, encodes a civilization that prized innovation and trade. In De Wit’s polished idiom—revived by Covens & Mortier—geography becomes destiny: a portrait of a region at the threshold of transformation, its prosperity and strategic significance written into every engraved line.

Cities and towns on this map

• Brussels
• Bruges
• Ghent
• Antwerp
• Mechelen
• Arras
• Lille
• Dunkirk
• Zeeland
• Middelburg
• Rotterdam

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Title cartouche: engraved, artistic depiction in the lower left corner
• Rivers: major rivers including the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse, with illustrations of their paths
• Political borders: clear delineation of territories governed by France, Spain, and the Netherlands
• Coastal features: notably depicted coastline along the North Sea
• Roads and towns: representative roads connecting towns and cities for navigation

Historical and design context

• Date created: 1721
• Mapmaker: Frederik De Wit
• Publisher: Covens and Mortier (following their acquisition of De Wit’s plates)
• Geographical coverage: western Belgium, northern France, and parts of Holland (Flanders), from Zeeland south to Arras and from Gravelines east to Brussels
• Political divisions noted: French, Spanish, and Dutch dominions
• Topographical focus: detailed rendering of the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse
• Cartographic style: highly decorative with a beautifully engraved title cartouche in the lower-left quadrant
• Historical significance: captures the political landscape of the Low Countries before shifts from the Spanish Netherlands to the Batavian Republic
• Cultural context: reflects the region’s role in early modern capitalism through its financial institutions

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 40in (100cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.