Original antioque map from 1652.
Generally known as Jan Jansson, this remarkable mapmaker was born into the world of printed material, set himself up and even married in to it. His own father was a publisher and bookseller known as Jan Janszoon (the Elder). Having met various writers, engravers and mapmakers through his father, Jan eventually married in 1612, the daughter of one of the more renowned, Jocodus Hondius.
From here, and with not only the blessing of his father-in-law, but with a few useful hints and helping hands, Jansson set up in business in Amsterdam, initially as a book publisher. His maps began to come in 1616, the first being of France and Italy. Although of a really high standard, he was always going to have to compete with the well-established and renowned map makers of the Blaeu family, and competing with those who had perfected their art was far from straightforward.
It was when Jan teamed up with his wife's brother, Henricus Hondius, that things began to move. Using the atlas plates developed by his father-in-law and Gerard Mercator, adding his name to the plates, business began to swing their way as they finally had a quality set of maps that could perhaps touch the Blaeus for quality. The partnership continued until the death of Henricus Hondius, but, by this time, they had achieved a remarkable volume of quality work, that Jansson decided to continue alone.
After a while it was Hondius who helped his son-in-law with some material, enabling Jansson to publish a fine set of county maps in 1636, released in several editions until 1644, changing little from his father-in-law's plates, and including some delightful errors and oddments. This recovery plan was a great lead into arguably Jansson's best work.
1646 saw the publication of Jansson's English County Maps: finally a collection to rival the Blaeus. Today, there are many arguments as to whether the Janssons and Blaeus were in competition or collusion, but whichever is the case, the results speak for themselves. Jansson died in 1664 and his plates were acquired by Gerard Valck and Pieter Schenk, who added their names and published them, largely unchanged, again between 1683 and 1696.
