Jan Janssonius

Jan Janssonius, also known as Johannes, Janszoon, and Jansson, was a Dutch cartographer and publisher who lived and worked in Amsterdam in the 17th century.

Janssonius was born in Arnhem to Jan Janszoon the Elder, a publisher and bookseller. Early in his life he learned the art of printing and was employed by Jodocus Hondius, whose daughter Elizabeth he married in 1612. In 1616, Janssonius produced his first maps which were images of France and Italy. By 1618 Janssonius established his shop in Amsterdam, and in the 1630s he formed a partnership with his brother in law Henricus Hondius. In 1638 they published the Atlas Novus, which consisted of 318 maps in 3 volumes. In the following year Hondius died, and the firm passed on to Janssonius. He continued to publish new editions of their Atlas which were extended with new maps, and which appeared in Latin, French, German and Dutch. By 1646, the atlas consisted of 6 volumes. His other remarkable work was town books, first published in 1652, which consisted of 8 volumes with 500 copper engravings of town views from across the world.

In 1664, Janssonius passed away in Amsterdam, and his printing house was run by his heirs under the leadership of his brother-in-law, Johannes van Waesbergen.