Mannevillette, Jean Baptiste N. D. Apres de

1707-1780

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Mercator, Gerard

1512 - 1594

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Munster, Sebastian

1489 - 1552

Sebastian Munster  was a professor of Hebrew at Basle University and an eminent hebraist, mathematician and geographer. He produced his own edition of Ptolemy's Geographia in 1540, adding a number of significantly new maps to the modern section of the work. There were further editions of the Geographia in 1541, 1542, 1545 and 1552. These were all printed at Basle with Latin text. His two major works the Geographia and the Cosmographia continued to be published by his step-son, Heinrich Petri, long after Muster's death of the plague in 1552. Later editions of Munster's Cosmographia included updated maps.

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NIEUHOFF, JAN

1618 - 1672

The Dutchman Jan Nieuhoff accompanied the Dutch mission to China from Jakarta in 1655. Nieuhoff provided an account of the embassy which was published by Van Meurs’ in Amsterdam in 1665. It contained a map and some of the earliest illustrations to appear in Europe of the Chinese hinterland and interior and of China and its Cities. It was the most important European source of information about China in the seventeenth century. His work proved exceptionally popular, being translated into French, German and English in the following years.

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ORTELIUS, ABRAHAM

1527 - 1598

Abraham Ortelius was born in Antwerp on April 4th 1527. He studied Greek, Latin and mathematics. At the age of 19 he had become a colourist of old maps and he developed quite a talent for this art. This was a time when most map colouring was done by children. As he developed into a book and map dealer, cartographer and publisher, his sister Anne joined him and took over the colouring which she continued to do for the rest of her life.

He became a book, print and map dealer and attended the Frankfurt book fair. It was at this book fair in 1554 that he met Gerard Mercator. A lasting friendship developed. He traveled extensively around Europe and as a result he learnt many languages. In 1564 he published a world map in eight sheets of which only one copy is known to have survived.

In 1570 he produced his magnificent atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum or Atlas of the Whole World. The Theatrum was the first uniformly sized, systematic collection of maps and therefore the first atlas, although the term atlas itself was not used until twenty years later by Mercator. Most of the maps in the Threatrum were elegantly engraved by Hans Hogenburgh and the publication was so successful that it was published in numerous editions in different languages. New editions included addenda issued from time to time incorporating the latest contemporary knowledge and discoveries. It grew from 53 maps to 166 maps. Ortelius listed his sources of information and in the first edition acknowledgement was made to eighty seven different cartographers.

Abraham Ortelius became the Royal Cartographer to Philip II King of Spain. Philip sent him a golden necklace worth one thousand ducats.

He died on the 28th of June 1598 at the age of 71.

Ortelius Atlas Maps Marcel P.R. van den Broeke
Antique Maps Moreland and Bannister

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ROSACCIO, GIUSEPPE

c.1530 - 1620

The Italian cosmographer, Dr Guiseppe Rosaccio was most active towards the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century. He produced a number of small books from 1592 onwards, which were illustrated with some unusual woodcut maps.

Ronald Vere Tooley Tooleys Dictionary of Mapmakers 1979.

Geoffrey King Miniature Antique Maps 1996.

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Sanson, Nicolas

1600 - 1667

Nicolas Sanson was Geographer to the King of France, Louis XIII. Sanson is regarded as the originator of The great age of French cartography. Sanson was born in Abbeville where as a young man he studied history, particularly of the ancient world, and it is said that he turned to cartography only as a means of illustrating his historical works. For this purpose he prepared a number of beautifully drawn maps, one of which, after he move to Paris, came to the attention of Louis X111. In due course the King appointed him 'Geographe Ordinaire du Roi', one of his duties being to tutor the King in geography. In preparation of his major atlas, Cartas Generales de Toutes les Parties du Monde, Sanson employed a number of engravers, one of whom, M. Tavernier, engraved important maps showing the Post Roads and River and Waterway system of France (1632-34) and a map of the British Isles (1640). In all, Sanson produced about 300 maps of which two of North America were particularly influential: Amerique Septentrionale (1650) and Le Canada ou Nouvelle France (1656), the first map to show all the Great Lakes. After Sanson's death the business was carried on by his two surviving sons and grandson, in partnership with A. H. Jaillot. It is generally accepted that the great age of French cartography originated with the work of Nicolas Sanson but credit must go also to A. H. Jaillot and Pierre Duval for re-engraving his maps, many still unprinted at his death, and re-publishing them in face of strong competition from the Dutch, who continued to dominate the market until the end of the century. A good impression of this map of Asia. This map was first published in the 1670 edition of Sanson's atlas, "Cartes Generales de Toutes les Parties du Monde".

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Sayer, Robert

1725 - 1794

Robert Sayer was a publisher, map and print seller who worked in London in eighteenth century. He worked with a number of leading mapmakers before setting up a partnership with John Bennett in 1770. They acquired part of the stock of Thomas Jefferys particularly his charts and continued to revise and publish the spectacular charts of America and Asia.

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Seutter, Matteus

1678 - 1757

After serving an apprenticeship to J.B. Homan, the Nuremberg map publisher, the German mapmaker Matteus Seutter set up his own very successful business in Augsburg and was appointed Geographer to the Imperial Court. With his son, Albrecht, and son-in-law, Conrad Lotter, he issued a number of atlases. For much of his life he worked in competition with his old employer and, not surprisingly, his maps are often very similar to those of Homan.

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