74/5853 Aruba Kaart van het Eiland Aruba
- Vague folds in upper right corner.
= The first detailed map of Aruba, "gevolgd naar de opmeting in den jare 1820 gedaan, onder directie van den Kapitein ter Zee W.A. van Spengler en in den jare 1825 met verscheidene nieuwe bepalingen verrykt door den Kapitein R.F. van Raders". In 1773 a large map on seventeen sheets was made, which showed only the island's coastline. The present map was made after the Netherlands regained possession of 'Curaçao en Onderhorigheden' in 1816. Up-to-date reports and maps of Curaçao and Bonaire were soon made, but a survey of Aruba had to wait until 1820, when Captain Van Spengler, port warden of Curaçao from 1816 onwards, offered to perform this task. A copy of his manuscript map eventually found its way to the 'Departement van oorlog of Koloniën' in The Hague. In 1824, news arrived in The Hague that gold was found on Aruba. Immediately, Captain R.F. van Raders was sent to the island to investigate. During his three visits to Aruba in 1824 and 1825, Van Raders carried Van Spengler's map or a copy of it, and added new information to it concerning the gold mining. In 1825, this manuscript map was made in print. For extensive information on the mapping of Aruba in this period, see Caert Thresoar 2009-3, p.65-70. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE CXXXVI.