Collectors in the 18th-century were very keen on maps and descriptions of distant places. Amsterdam’s many printers were quick to exploit this interest and produced many new editions and reprints. The map here comes from Tirion’s atlas, ‘Contemporary history, or the present state of America’. Paramaribo is the heart of Suriname. Here, ships are approaching under the watchful eye of Fort Zeelandia. The Suriname and Commewijne rivers are vital for transport in the colony’s interior. Over 400 plantations are located along their banks. They produce sugar, timber, tobacco, and later coffee. Here north points down, in contrast to the convention in modern maps. Beekhuizen plantation lies slightly above Paramaribo, of which it now forms a neighbourhood.