Biographies of Some of the More Famous Cartographers
We offer below brief biographies of those mapmakers more often encountered. It is our intention to add to these pages on a regular basis, so we hope that you will 'book-mark' them for future reference.The ALLARDS
Huych (or Hugo) Allard (1625-1691) was an engraver and the founder of the Allard publishing business in Amsterdam. He was succeeded in the business by his son Carel (1648-c.1706) and by Carel’s sons in turn – Hugo the younger and Abraham.
Although the so-called "Golden Age" of Dutch cartography appears to have been dominated by the activities of the Blaeu family and of the Hondius/Jansson partnership, numerous other mapmakers, engravers and publishers continued to ply their trades successfully in Amsterdam. Amongst these Huych Allard's work, from about 1640 to around 1680 stands comparison with any other. Allard's output was relatively small with maps being published as loose separate issues, rather than atlas collections, however, his maps are well designed, finely engraved and rare. Huych’s maps included the world, the East Indies, New York, New England and Leo Belgicus amongst others. Perhaps one of his most remarkable maps is that of Guinea (West Africa), engraved by Baptista van Doetecum. No examples of the first state of this map are known to exist. Drawn by Portuguese cartographer, LuisTeixeira, the map is believed to have been produced to accompany Pieter de Marees' account of his travels in the region first published in 1602 by Cornelis Claesz. The handful of copies of this second state which are known are identified by the addition of the imprint of publisher Hugo Allard.
Carel took over the business from his father in 1691 and he published a number of atlases by Janssonius and De Wit amongst others, but he was also responsible for a number of original works. These original works are often decorative in style and were based on up-to-date knowledge. Works included Totius Neobelgii Nova Et Accuratissima Tabula (c.1674) and Orbis Sive Americae Septentrionalis ... (1690). Carel also issued a number of composite atlases comprising his own and others’ maps as the Atlas Major or Atlas Minor, however, the maps are relatively scarce.
Sources:
I.C.Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici Volume I, pp.31-48.
Aaron & John ARROWSMITH
By 1790 Arrowsmith was able to set up his own business and this flourished throughout the early years of the nineteenth century. One of his first productions in his own premises was the Chart of the World upon Mercator’s Projection. This large map on multiple sheets typifies the types of publications for which Arrowsmith was perhaps best renowned, however, this particular publication, based on the astronomical observations taken during the voyages of Capitain Cook, is now extremely rare. The publication success of this map secured Arrowsmith’s reputation and he was appointed Hydrographer to King William IV. The success can perhaps be attributed to the precise, accurate and clear style in which the map was executed.
Arrowsmith’s mapmaking skills were repeated in his maps of Southern India on eighteen sheets, his Chart of the Pacific Ocean on nine sheets and his three sheet map of America. The reissue of each of these maps (often multiple reissues over a number of years) testifies to their popularity and success. Each reissue would have brought the map up-to-date with the latest discoveries and findings.
Arrowsmith is also known for his involvement in a number of atlas publications including a New General Atlas in 1817, an Atlas of South India in 1822 and an Ancient Geography in 1828. He was also responsible for the maps in Hansard’s Parliamentary Paper as well as the journal of the Royal Geographical Society.
Aaron was succeeded by his sons Aaron Jr. and Samuel, who published the portrait of Aaron, aged 72. In turn, they were succeeded by John Arrowsmith (1790-1873), their cousin. John’s main output was the folio The London Atlas, first published in 1842. This atlas is remarkable for the care and attention he put into revising, correcting and up-dating the maps therein. Good examples are his maps of Australia and Africa, and their parts, which were continually improved as information became available. These maps were among the most valuable cartographic reflections of the continuous, and continuing exploration and settlement of these far-flung frontiers.
Pieter van der AA
Van Der Aa was a prolific publisher, working in Leiden during the first three decades of the eighteenth century. Much of his output consisted of re-issues and re-engravings of map and view plates that he had acquired from earlier mapmakers. Little of his output was original, though that which is has a very distinct style, precisely and elegantly engraved, and is much sought-after today.
Perhaps his most remarkable publication was the elaborate Galerie Agreable du Monde, issued in 1729, in 66 parts, bound into 27 volumes, which contained about 3,000 plates, apparently limited to 100 sets. Another of his extensive publications was the Cartes des Itineraires et Voyages Modernes, a collection of 28 volumes of travel accounts, illustrated with a series of small, but finely engraved maps, often with decorative pictorial title-pieces.
An interesting feature of Van Der Aa’s method is that several of his atlases include maps printed within large, separately engraved, elaborately designed mock-frame borders, which were prepared with a blank centre so that individual maps could be over-printed on that area.
Despite the quantity and variety of Van Der Aa’s publications they seem to have had only a limited circulation, and so are now scarce.