An original antique map of the Languedoc area of France by Johannsen Janssonius. With original hand colouring. 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. For decades, they published the same maps together. A map might have been engraved with "Hondius" in the decorative title box (the cartouche), but it was sold in a book (atlas) that had Janssonius’s name on the front cover.
After he death of Hondius, Janssonius took over the business. He kept using the old copper plates because they were expensive to remake. He often didn't bother changing the name "Hondius" inside the map itself, even though he was now the sole publisher. The reason why the name of Hondius is on the map but it is attrributed to Janssonius is because they were business partners who shared the same copper printing plates.
On the reverse of the map there is a description in French and at the bottom is the key to the date – XXX 3.
That specific signature mark (Xxx 3) confirms that the map was part of a French edition of the atlas printed in the 1633 edition of the Nouveau Théâtre du Monde (the French title for the Mercator-Hondius Atlas).
The 1633 French edition is highly regarded by collectors because it was one of the first times this specific map of Southern Languedoc was included in a complete atlas.
