Beschrijving van de provincie Overijssel door Wilhelm Nagge (tweede pagina) after 1647

This is the second page of "Description of the province Overijssel" made by Wilhelm Nagge around the mid-17th century. The immediate visual experience is dominated by a dense arrangement of text in a single, vertically-oriented block. The layout is structured by a series of clearly defined paragraphs, marked by capitalized initial letters, such as the prominent "D" at the beginning of the first paragraph, which function as visual anchors, guiding the eye through the detailed descriptions. This dense textual arrangement, reflecting the Humanist and early scientific interests of the period, prioritizes empirical observation and categorization, and challenges the medieval tradition of symbolic representation. The rigorous structure of the text block, set against the pale backdrop of the paper, suggests a rational ordering of knowledge. Yet, the slight imperfections and variations in the printing, the occasional smudges, remind us of the manual process of its creation and the inherent instability of meaning. This interplay suggests a moment of transition between the certainties of a structured world and the ambiguities inherent in its representation.