biographies of artists A to E

Aa, Pieter van der (1659-1733)

Pieter van der Aa was born in Leyden in 1659 and made an early start in life by being apprenticed to a bookseller at the age of nine. He started on his own in business as a book publisher i the age of twenty three and was a very successful merchant. During the following fifty years he published an enormous amount of material. Many of his atlases were made from outdated plates acquired from many of the older well-known cartographers. His maps are collected predominately because of their decorative qualities. Pieter van der Aa died in 1733.

Amman,Jost (1539–1591)

Jost Amman was born in 1530 as a son of a professor and became a printmaker.
Little of his personal history is known. In 1561 Amman settled in Nuremberg, where he worked with Virgil Solis. After Solis's death in 1562 Amman began a lifelong partnership with Solis's publisher. During this period, he illustrated up to fifty books, including biblical and merchant scenes and an artists’ instructional guide. Amman also produced decorative etchings and designs. He executed many of the woodcut illustrations for the Bible published by S. Feierabend at Frankfurt. Amman's drawing is detailed and correct. Jost Amman died in 1591 (Nuremberg).

Aquila , Pietro (1650 – 1692 )

Pietro Aquila was a was an Italian painter and printmaker of the Baroque period. However his reputation reached its highest peak for his engravings and etchings. He was born in Palermo and was a highly regarded engraver and etcher of designs after old master painters and his contemporaries. During his career he received commissions to engrave works after Morandi, Maratti, Ferri andPietro de Cortona.

Argenville, Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d’ ( 1680–1765)

Dezallier D’Arengenville was born the son of a prosperous Paris bookseller. He studied at the Collége du Plessis and from 1713 to 1716 in Italy . After his return to France he was secretary to the King and became counselor to the King in 1748. In 1716, he settled in Paris where he acquired a reputation as an expert collector of objects of art and curiosities of nature.

The First edition of 'La Conchyliologie ' was printed in German language. Written for the collector in order to facilitate the identification of shells for the cabinet, it was very popular and even Linnaeus utilized it to arrange his shells. In 1757 there was a second edition in French language and during this publication Dezallier D’Arengenville supplemented the text and plates by adding a description of the animals that inhabited the shells entitled 'Zoomorphose'. This part succeeds the section on the ‘Conchyliologie’. The word Zoomorphose derives from two Greek words: zoo (animal) and morphos (form). The prints on this website are from this second French edition. The third edition (1780) was published after Dezallier D’Argenville’s death.

Bartalozzi, Francesco (1728-1815)

Francesco Bartalozzi was an Italian engraver. After 1764 he settled in England with the position of official engraver to George III. In 1768 he was a founder member of the Royal Academy. Bartalozzi was celebrated for prints after the Old Masters. He also engraved the works of many leading contemporary painters, such as Copley and Reynolds. In 1802 he moved to Lisbon to become director of the Academy. Bartalozzi died in 1815.

Bellin, Jacques-Nicolas (1703-1772)

Jacques Bellin was born in Paris (1703). He entered the employment of the navy department and was instructed to make charts of all the oceans and seas. He was appointed 'Hydrographer to the King' and was a member of the Royal Society in London. Bellin produced a very large number of sea charts of the highest quality which appeared in many editions with varying numbers of charts to the end of the century. He also prepared all the charts that are in Abbe Prevost's ‘Histoire generale des voyages’. Jacques Nicolas Bellin was one of the greatest and most important French cartographers of the mid-18th century. His works were were widely copied throughout Europe .Bellin died in Versailles 21 March 1772.

Blaeu, Family

Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638) was born at Alkmaar and founded his business in Amsterdam in 1599. He was originally a globe and instrument maker but he later expanded business with publishing maps, topographical works and books of sea charts. He bought several plates of the Mercator Atlas from Jodocus Hondius II which he used to complete his ‘Atlantis Appendix’ . About 5 years later the first two volumes of his planned world atlas, 'Atlas Novus' or 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' were issued. He was appointed Hydrographer to the East India Company. Before 1620 Blaeu signed his works Guilielmus Janssonius or Willems Jans Zoon. From 1620 onward he preferred Guilielmus or G. Blaeu.
After his death his sons, Joan (1596-1673) and Cornelis continued their father's business. After the death of Cornelis, Joan continued alone. Around 1649 Joan Blaeu published a collection of Dutch city maps named 'Tooneel der Steeden' or 'Theater of Cities'. His six volume work ‘Atlas Major’ followed. After a serious fire and Joan’s death in1673 the surviving plates and maps were sold to Frederick de Wit, Pieter Schenk and Gerard Valck.

Bonne, Rigober (1727 – 1795)

Rigobert Bonne was a French hydrographer and cartographer during the period of late 18th century. He was born in the year of 1727 in Raucourt , France . Bonne’s major work was the 'Atlas Maritime' first published in 1762.
In 1773 Bonne succeeded Jacques Nicolas Bellin as Royal Cartographer of the French Hydrological Office. Bonne’s work represents an important step in the evolution of the cartographic ideology away from the decorative work of the 17th and early 18th century towards a more detail oriented and practical aesthetic.
The work of Bonne is highly regarded for its detail, historical importance, and overall aesthetic appeal.
As Royal hydrographer Bonne's main concern was the production of marine charts with special emphasis on the coastal regions but he was also involved in other works, including many for fellow cartographers. His large output of charts, some of which appeared in the 'Atlas Maritime', bear considerable mention. The style of the maps created by Rigobert Bonne however had a strong influence of his predecessor Bellin.
He died in 1795.

de Bruijn, Cornelis (1652 - 1727)

Cornelis de Bruyn (de Bruijn or Corneille Le Brun) was a Dutch portrait painter. He painted for some years in Italy. De Bruyn is remembered chiefly for the records of his travels in Egypt, Persia , India and other countries. His teacher was Theodoor van der Schuer (1634-1707). He made two large tours and published illustrated books with his observations of people, buildings, plants and animals. After his first tour he arrived in Amsterdam in 1693. In 1694 he became a member of the 'Accademie van de Teyken-Const' ( the current Dutch ‘Royal Academy of Art). In 1698 he published ‘Reizen door de vermaardste Deelen van Klein Asia ’ (‘Travels in the Principal Parts of Asia Minor’). The result was splendid and it was translated in several languages. In 1701 he left for Russia . He returned in 1708 and published an account of his adventures in ‘Reizen over Moskovie, door Persie en Indie’ (‘Travels into Moscovy , Persia , and the East Indies ’). Unfortunately his second book, ‘Reizen over Moskovie’ was not such a success. Not very much is known about the last period of his life. From Amsterdam he fled to Vianen. It is not known where he is buried.

Commelin, Isaac (1598-1676)

Commelin or Commelijn was born in Amsterdam (1598) and was a Dutch historian and publisher. Isaac Commelin published a large two volume collection of early travel-accounts, known as ‘Begin ende voortgangh van de Vereenighde Nederlantsche Geoctroyeerde Oost-Indische Compagnie’ as well as other basic work about discoveries, travels, geography, astronomy and cosmography. He also wrote’ Lives of the Stadtholders William I. and Maurice’. He was the father of Jan Commelin and Casparus Commelin. Isaac Commelin died in 1676 ( Amsterdam ).

Dapper, Olfert ( 1635 – 1689)

There is very little known about Olfert Dapper, even though he published nearly a dozen books. He was a writer, physician and expert on Africa . Dapper was born in a working-class district of Amsterdam, in around 1635. He was baptized at the Lutheran church in January 1636. In May 1658, he enrolled at Utrecht University and two years later was signing himself ‘doctor medicinæ’. After his studies he went to live and write in Amsterdam. In 1663, he published a historical description of Amsterdam , followed by a Dutch translation of the works of Herodotus in 1665. Other works followed. Following the growing publishing trend in Amsterdam , Dapper was just over thirty when he embarked on the geographical research that was to occupy him for the rest of his life. His books became well-known in his own time. Dapper became the first person to adopt an interdisciplinary approach, weaving together the separate threads of geography, economics, politics, medicine, social life and customs. He died in 1689 ( Amsterdam )

Danckerts family

The Danckerts family was active in Amsterdam as map sellers and publishers for nearly a century. Cornelis Danckerts (1603-1656) “The Elder” and Justus Danckerts (1635-1701) were by far its most significant members. The maps by Justus or Theodorus Danckerts were placed in atlases between 1680 and 1700. These are very rare. The title pages of these atlases are undated. It makes it difficult to date the maps. The Danckerts also produced wall maps of the world and continents. Their stock of plates was sold to R. and J. Ottens.

Doppelmayr, Johan Gabriel (1671-1750)

Johan Gabriel Doppelmayr ( Doppelmayer or Doppelmair )was born in 1671 and was a German mathematician, astronomer and cartographer. He studied at the Gymnasium of Nuremberg and the University of Altdorf and he became professor of mathematics at the Aegidien-Gymnasium from 1704 until his death. He published several works of a scientific nature. His publications covered topics on mathematics and astronomy, including sundials, spherical trigonometry and celestial maps. He married Susanna Maria Kellner in 1716, and the couple had four children of which one survived. Johan became a member of several scientific societies, most notably the Berlin Academy , the Royal Society in 1733, and the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1740 ). Johan Gabriel Doppelmeyr died on 1st December 1750 in Nuremberg .

Emslie, John ( 1813-1875)

John Emslie was a draughtsman & engraver and Emslie, who collaborated with James Reynolds to publish astronomical diagrams, issued single or in sets. James Reynolds as a map seller and publisher responded to the popular demand for information on the developments taking place in science and engineering by publishing diagrams, charts, maps and atlases. The educational diagrams received a prize medal at the International Exhibition of 1862. Another large scientific work of Reynolds and Emslie was Illustrations of Natural Philosophy / Popular Diagrams. John Emslie died in 1875.


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