Profiles of Fort Sommelsdijk

Titel Leupe: Plan van de fortress Sommelsdyk.

Although before the completion of Fort Nieuw Amsterdam shortly before the mid-eighteenth century, Fort Sommelsdijck at the confluence of the Commewijne and the Cottica was second only to Zeelandia as the most important fortification in Suriname, there is remarkably little authentic cartographical and pictorial material about it still available. This project profile by Gustavus Palm, actually a copy of an original which has disappeared, is a rare exception and was drawn on the same date as his copy plan for the extension of Fort Zeelandia (VEL2069). The proposals on Palm’s profile and map (also see VEL2080B) deal principally with its reinforcement and armaments and the various adjustments these would entail; it is uncertain whether these improvements were actually ever carried out. Remarkable is his suggestion to make it possible to close off both rivers using a chain (K). A similar ‘line of obstruction’ would later be designed in a more advanced form for Fort Nieuw Amsterdam.

Scale-bar of 90 feet = [approximately 1 : 260].