Page:Augustine Herrman, beginner of the Virginia tobacco trade, merchant of New Amsterdam and first lord of Bohemia manor in Maryland (1941).djvu/82



Before we commit ourselves to the precise reason why Herrman cast his fortunes with the English after 1659, it will be necessary to trace the origin of his conception to prepare a map of Maryland. At an early age he had shown marked talents toward design and map-making. Did Herrman study design and drawing either in Prague or Amsterdam? Čapek suggests that Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–1677), a Bohemian exile, was Herrman’s early instructor.

The earliest view of New Amsterdam that has come down to us is from the pen of Herrman. It was first published as an embellishment to Nicholas Van Visscher’s map of New Netherland (1650) and later appeared in the second edition of Van der Donck’s “Beschryvinge van Nieuw-Nederlant.” In 1660 the view of the village was sent to Amsterdam, “to make it more public by having it engraved”. The engraving repre-