11. Jan Jansson 1644

Jan Jansson the Elder was a publisher in Arnhem who produced the new Atlas Minor in 1607 in conjunction with Jodocus Hondius. This association introduced the Janssons to the Mercator/Hondius family and the younger Jan married Hondius’ daughter in 1612. Gerard Mercator (1512-94) was the leading Dutch cartographer in the latter half of the century. He formulated his own map projection and was the first to use the term Atlas for a collection of maps.

Jodocus Hondius (1563-1611), a master engraver, acquired the Mercator business in 1606 and produced the second edition of the Mercator Atlas in 1607. His sons, Henry (1587-1638) and Jodocus (1594-1629) were also first-class engravers and continued updating and reissuing the atlas. Jodocus, like Mercator, had once been a religious refugee in London and there he most likely met John Speed for whom he engraved a series of county maps (6).

Jan Jansson (1588-1664) joined the firm in 1633. The first English edition of the Hondius/Mercator Atlas came out in 1636 and in the German edition of the same year the first British county maps appeared. In the Dutch Appendix of 1644 further county maps were introduced including Devon. The fourth volume of the Novus Atlas, containing the full set of the British maps, appeared in 1646.

Jansson was now the sole owner and, like his great rival Blaeu (12), determined to produce a full atlas of the world. The Atlas continued to expand and was finally completed in a 9- or 11-volume edition. The two great Dutch atlases appeared almost simultaneously and have much in common, especially their derivation from Speed; it is sometimes suggested that Jansson copied Blaeu. Apart from the imprint difference, Jansson used flamboyant lettering, as did Mercator, and had two scales.

After Jansson’s death his son-in-law, Johannes van Waesberghe, carried on the business. When he died the plates were sold at auction. Peter Schenk and Gerard Valk acquired the British plates and sold individual maps. They then sold the plates or, more likely, quantities of maps to Henry Overton, Carol Allard and John Seller who included the maps in their collections. 

 DEVONIAE DESCRIPTIO. The DESCRIPTION of DEVON-SHIRE with imprint: Amstelodami Apud Ioannem Ianßonium. No shields covering area of Cornwall.