Jan Jansson (1588-1664) Dutch, Terra Firma et Novum Regnum Granatense et Popayan Atlas Print. Reproduction of the 1658 map depicting Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama originally created by Guiljelmus Blaeuw, compiled in the 10th Volume of the Atlas Major. 

Overall Size: 20 5/8 x 25 in. 

Sight Size: 14 1/2 x 19 in. 

#5022 . 

Jan Jansson (also known as Johannes Janssonius) was born Jan Janszoon in 1588 in Arnhem, in the Netherlands. His father was a publisher and bookseller, and he studied early to follow in his footsteps. In 1612 he married Elisabeth de Hondt, the daughter of the skilled engraver and cartographer Jodocus Hondius who taught Jan how to study and compile maps. His first maps were produced in 1616, of France and Italy. In 1623 he purchased a bookstore in Frankfurt am Main, at which time he adopted the Johannes moniker. By 1627 when his wife passed away from the plague he had acquired additional stores in Danzig, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Geneva, and Lyon. While traveling to inspect one of his stores in 1629 he met and fell in love with Elisabeth Carlier, and that same year he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law Henricus Hondius and began publishing atlases as Mercator/Hondius/Janssonius. In 1638 he renamed the Hondius Atlas as Atlas Novus and expanded it into three immense volumes, one dedicated entirely to all the different towns and regions of Italy. In 1646 a fourth volume was produced that showed English county maps, which bore many similarities to those of his main rival, Joan Blaeu. These became the most popular atlases in England, which led to the simplified name Jan he is best known by. By 1660 most of his atlases had also been translated into English and the completed set was called “Atlas Major,” with 11 volumes in total containing the work of nearly one hundred credited authors and engravers. It became the best-selling item in Europe for a brief period, with editions printed in Latin, French, and German. After Jan’s death in 1664, his son-in-law Johannes van Waesbergen continued to run the company the rest of his life. The scope of the Atlas Major was unparalleled for the rest of the 17th Century, even bankrupting some publishers like Moses Pitt who attempted to publish the entire compilation in their own languages and editions.

Good.