[Kaart van Alkmaar] Cornelius Drebbel sculptor

A detailed copperplate engraving of the city of Alkmaar, presented as a bird's-eye plan. The city is enclosed within a complex system of bastions and moats. Surrounding the city are agricultural fields, canals, windmills, and smaller settlements. In the top left corner, a decorative crest featuring the city's coat of arms, a castle, is held by two lions and contains a Dutch inscription. In the bottom right, a large, ornate Baroque cartouche contains a Latin poem. In the bottom left corner, a separate framed box depicts a man and a woman in period costume. Compass points are labeled at the margins: North at the top, South at the bottom, West at the left, and East at the right.

[Dutch Text in Top Left Cartouche]

[Latin Text in Bottom Right Cartouche]

There where Alkmaar stands, famous for its guarded walls,
It is a celebrated port of the realm.
Here it sensed the ice or the mountain of Salvation,
The sacred things destroyed, the holy House.
You see how this void, with meadows and orchards cultivated,
Increased with a shining expression of your own.
The industrious man helps to open a certain path here,
They have placed a sword for the warrior.
Here peace establishes itself, after its battalions,
The Mistress and Glory of the federations.

[Map Labels and Annotations]

Top Margin:
Koedijck
Sint Pancras
NORTH
Oudorp

Left Margin:
WEST

Right Margin:
EAST
Frieze Canal original: "Frieze graft"
The New Land original: "Het Nieuw-landt"

Bottom Margin:
SOUTH
The Vronne a historic area name
The Voery likely a local topographical indicator
The Remm referring to a lock or water control structure
Old maps 75 Modern pencil annotation

Interior Map Labels:

• The Northern Canal original: "De Noorder Graft"
• The Southern Canal original: "De Zuyd Graft"
• The Western Canal original: "De Wester Graft"
• The Eastern Canal original: "De Ooster Graft"
• Great Church original: "Grote Kerck" Identifiable by visual representation

Detailed view of the city center showing the Sint-Laurenskerk (Great Church), the weigh house, and numerous canals (grachten) with bridges. Outside the walls, several windmills and small farmhouses are visible across the polder landscape.

A small inset in the lower left corner shows two figures in late 16th-century attire: a woman on the left in a dark gown and coif, and a man on the right in a doublet, ruff, trunk hose, and a tall hat, holding a staff.