Bart Schultz
In 1641 he published the Haerlemmer-Meer-Boeck. Serving as a remonstrance, declaration and preparation to drain the Haerlemmer and Leytse-Meer: as well as of the depths, grounds and their usefulness. Also: of most of the lakes that have been drained and made into land in North Holland against the Huygen-dijk and Saerdam since the year 1608, until the year 1641.
No less than thirteen editions of this book were published. Even in 2009, Diedrik Aten, Marijke Joustra and Han van Zwet published an edited version of the fourth edition of the Haerlemmer-Meer-Boeck, with an extensive explanation.
The first known plan for draining the Haarlemmermeer was made in 1615 by Gerbrant Meussz. It was only a map. This was used in 1617 in the first application for draining the Haarlemmermeer by Anthonius de Hoog c.s.
In 1629, Jan Adriaensz. Leeghwater (born in 1575 in De Rijp and died in 1650 in Amsterdam) – originally written as Leech Water – came up with his first plan for draining the Haarlemmermeer. This plan also only involved a map showing draining with 120 windmills. In 1635, an amended plan by Leeghwater was published showing 156 windmills. This map states that it was based on the map by Meussz., with an improvement here and there.
Leeghwater then published an almost identical edition in 1640, but the number of windmills had been increased to 160, placed in forty series of four windmills with paddle wheels. This last number is also shown on Leeghwater's later maps. The best-known plan by him was published in the above-mentioned Haerlemmer-Meer-Boeck. In it he gave a fairly detailed cost estimate, but there was no map included. The second edition also appeared in 1641. This edition did include a map, which was also included in the following editions of his book in almost identical form. The third and fourth editions were published 1642.
In the fourth edition Leeghwater added a number of articles and also responded to C.A. Colevelt, who in 1642, in response to the third edition of the Haerlemmer-Meer-Boeck, had published a book in which he had set out his objections to the draining of the Haarlemmermeer. Colevelt had, among other things, raised the objection that two polders in Germany had been flooded at that time. One of the most remarkable arguments that Leeghwater put forward in his reply was that sinful people lived there. In other words, if you sin you should not be surprised that your polder is flooded.
After Leeghwater's death, no fewer than nine editions of his book were published. The fifth edition in 1654, the sixth in 1660 and the seventh in 1669. The remarkable thing about this last edition is that three different editions were published - namely in 1669, 1688 and 1710. The eighth edition was published in 1714, the ninth in 1724, the tenth in 1727, the eleventh in 1736 and the twelfth in 1749. Three different editions of this edition were also published, namely in 1749, 1750 and 1764. The thirteenth edition of the Haerlemmer-Meer-Boeck was published almost two hundred years later in 1838 by W.J.C. van Hasselt. He included an extensive introduction and also gave a historical overview of the various plans for draining the Haarlemmermeer.
In short, Leeghwater's plans for the reclamation of the Haarlemmermeer received a lot of attention over the years, even well after his death, but they were never realised. In the end, the Haarlemmermeer was not drained with windmills, but with three steam-powered pumping stations.
