Antique Maps of Lower Saxony

The son of William Faden senior (1711 - 1783) a Fleet Street printer who became a Freeman of the Clothworkers' Company in 1777. William Faden junior joined the family of the cartographer Thomas Jefferys in 1773 who had died some two years previously. In 1783 he took over the whole of Jefferys business. His contribution to cartography was important and extensive with the publishing of many fine maps and atlases. On his retirement in 1823 the business was taken over by James Wyld.

Born in Arnhem. In 1612 he founded his own business in Amsterdam publishing maps, atlases and globes T ' Opt Water in De Pascascaerte'. In the same year he married Elizabeth Hondius the daughter of Jodocus Hondius the elder and Colette van den Keere. Also in that same year his father-in-law Jodocus died and Jan helped his widow Colette with the publication of the Mercator-Hondius Atlas. Colette and her son Jodocus both died in 1629 and Jan Jansson continued working on the atlas and with the help of Colltte's younger son Henricus Hondius they completed the revision of the Mercator-Hondius Atlas published in 1638 and known as Atlas Novus. Jan Jansson then continued on his own adding maps which culminated in his magnificent 11 volume work Atlas Maior published in five languages.

One of the big names in early cartography. Perhaps because of his extraordinary Theatrum Orbis Terrarum which is recognised to be the first atlas of the new age. A collection of maps of a uniform style and size taken from the works of some 87 mapmakers. A first.

Abraham Ortelius was born in Antwerp and became a publisher, mapmaker, cosmographer and publisher. But he started as an engraver and map colourist. To add to his income he traded in maps and prints and visited the world's largest annual book fair in Frankfurt. Here he met Gerard Mercator. The two of them later travelled together in Europe. He published his first map, a wall map of the World on 8 sheets in 1564 in Antwerp. It was 6 years later on May 20th, 1570 that he published his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum containing 70 maps. Over the next 28 years a total of 25 extended editions were published in Latin, German, French and Dutch. He was appointed Royal Geographer to King Philip II of Spain in 1575.

He died in Antwerp in 1598 aged 71.

Robert Wilkinson was a cartographer and publisher as well as a map and print seller working in London first at 58 Cornhill 1796 and then 125 Fenchurch Street from 1817 to 1823. After the death of John Bowles the publisher and mapseller in 1779 he acquired the stock of his printing plates. which he updated and in 1794 published A General Atlas, being a Collection of Maps of the World and Quarters, the principal empires, kingdoms &c. with further editins in 1800, 1802, 1808,1810 and another after his death. He also collaborated with Bowles and Carver, successor to John Bowles with a reissue of Emanuel Bowen and Thomas Kitchin's Large English Atlas.

After his death in 1825 his business along with his printing plates were acquired by William Darton Jr. who reissued his General Atlas mentioned above.

A French family of map and globe makers whose business flourished in Paris from about 1731 to 1778. Gilles Robert de Vaugondy (1688 - 1766) born in Paris was appointed Géographe du Roi in 1734. His eldest son was Didier Robert de Vaugondy. The occurence that boosted the start of their business was the inheritence of the stock of maps and plates of Pierre Moullart Sanson who died in 1730. The bequest was to his friends Jean Frémand a lawyer, Jacques-Simon Perrier a priest and Gilles Robert de Vaugondy. At this tile they were working in on the 'quay de l'Horloge du Palais'. Perrier sold his share soon after and the business run by Giles, his son Didier and Frémond contined to flourish until the death of Giles in 1751. A second son of Giles, Martin de Davigny Vaugondy was by this time assistingthe business in the prepararion of Atlas Universal

Ref: Tooley's Dictinary of Mapmakers

Nicolaes Visscher was the son of Claes Janszoon Visscher (1587 - 1652) who was an engraver and published working in Amsterdam 'In de Guldden Bors' and later know as 'In de Visscher' Nicolaes worked with his father and took over the business after his father's death in 1652. He produced some beautiful maps as well as atlases. Let us name him Nicolaes I as in 1649 he had a son who he named Nicolaes. Known as Nicolaes II. He in turn continued the business after his father's death in Amsterdam in 1679, Nicholaes II died in 1702 but the business carried on being run by his wife Elizabeth until 1726.

Antonio Zatta worked in Venice as a publisher and and printer. He is known mainly to map collectors for his four voloues of Atlante novissimo.... published 1775 - 1785. The engravers for this series of maps were G. V. Pasquali, G. Pitteri, and G. Zuliani.