Week 11 finds our Bookseller in The Netherlands. He sounds like a happy tourist and proud owner of a very important antique map: Bleau color map of Africa, 1617, framed so viewer is able to see both sides.
Translation of Hank's postcard:
The Netherlands are as beautiful as they are interesting. Lots of prints and maps in all the bookstores. I bought a beautifiul Bleau color map of Africa in a two sided frame. This is the Dutch edition from about 1617,
Paid a ton for it, but I think we can do well with it (I hope)
Luv,
Hubby
An American, Mary Mapes Dodge, wrote a book in 1865 called Hans Brinker; or, the Silver Skates: A Story of Life in Holland. This book is where the story of the boy who stuck his finger in the dike originated, but he was a different character,one who had no name in the book. Hans is a skater who, according to Wikipedia, introduced Americans to speed skating.
Amazon, last look, had 1196 copies of this title, in various editions and conditions. No one seems to have a copy of the true first edition, nor the first edition that was printed a year later in the Netherlands.
This is a digital enhancement of a watercolor painting i did of Hans. Not a good job at keeping poor Hans in good proportion, but I planned the space weirdly and did not give him quite enough room for his legs, so I tried to show them bending as he skates. :)