SÖK KARTOGRAFER, GRAVÖRER M.FL.

MALLET, ALAIN MANESSON.

1630-1706. Född och död i Paris.
Fransk ingenjör. Efter en tids verksamhet som militäringenjör hos kungen av Portugal återvände han till Paris och blev matematiklärare åt Ludvig XIV:s pager. 1671 utgav han ett militärtekniskt verk, 'Les travaux de Mars, ou l'art de la guerre'. Ett geografiskt verk i 5 band med en mängd kartor och planer, 'Description de l'Univers, contenant les différens systemes du Monde' utkom 1683 och i nyutgåva 1685. 1702 lät han utge 'La Géométrie pratique' i 4 band.

Description de L'Universe
His Description de L'Universe contains a wide variety of information, including star maps, maps of the ancient and modern world, and a synopsis of the customs, religion and government of the many nations included in his text. It has been suggested that his background as a teacher led to his being concerned with entertaining his readers. This concern manifested itself in the charming harbor scenes and rural landscapes that he included beneath his description of astronomical concepts and diagrams. Mallet himself drew most ...
Bland arbeten.
Les travaux de Mars, ou l'art de la guerre.
Description de l'Univers, contenant les différens systemes du Monde.
La Géométrie pratique.

Nouv. biogr. gen.

Speed, John.

(1552-1629)
One of the most famous of English mapmakers, the historian John Speed decided in 1611 to publish a volume of maps to accompany his History of Great Britain. The maps were instantly popular, running to seven editions by 1676. Sudbury and Humble contracted Jodocus Hondius to engrave the plates in Amsterdam. From 1605 to 1610 Speed sent the information to Hondius, allowing Hondius to compose these famous maps.

Sotheby's

JOHNSTON, ALEXANDER KEITH.

1804-71. Född i Kirkhill, död i Yorkshire.
Skotsk kartograf. Han utmärkte sig som kartgravör och etablerade 1826 tillsammans med sin bror William Johnston (se denne) ett kartförlag i Edinburgh. Deras firma var väl ansedd och utgav under årens lopp en rad stora och mindre atlaser, såväl generella som specialiserade, bl.a. historiska, fysiska och astronomiska atlaser. 1851 fick han medalj för en jordglob som visade den fysiska geografin, den första i sitt slag. Medlem av en rad geografiska sällskap i Storbritannien och andra länder. En av hans söner, med samma namn, förde verksamheten vidare.

Dict. nat. biogr.

Stockholm - Mentzer ca 1860.

Verdelet de Fornoy - C. H. Tersmeden ca 1900.

KEULEN, JOHANNES van.

Biografiska uppgifter:1653-1715.
In 1680 was given special endorsement from the Dutch state to print and publish sea charts and sailing instructions. The van Keulen family's best-known work is Nieuwe Groote Ligtende Zee-Fakkel a world atlas in five volumes, published by Johannes's son Gerard and subsequently by Gerard's children and grandchildren.

As we have noted in other biographies in this chapter, the Dutch produced a remarkable number of enterprising and prolific map and chart makers but not even the Blaeu and Jansson establishments could rival the vigour of the van Keulen family whose business was founded in 1680 and continued under their name until 1823 and in other names until 1885 when it was finally wound up and the stock dispersed at auction. Throughout the history of the family, the widows of several of the van Keulens played a major part, after their husbands' deaths, in maintaining the continuity of the business.
The firm was founded by Johannes van Keulen who was registered as a bookseller in Amsterdam in 1678. In 1680 he published the first part of his Zee Atlas which, over the years, was expanded to 5 volumes and continued in one form or another until 1734. More ambitious and with a far longer and more complicated life was his book of sea charts, the Zee-Fakkel, published in 1681-82 which was still being printed round the year 1800. A major influence in the development of the firm was the acquisition in 1693 of the stock of a rival map publisher, Hendrik Doncker.
Although the firm was founded by Johannes van Keulen, he was primarily a publisher; it was his son, Gerard, a talented engraver, mathematician, Hydrographer to the East India Company, who became the mainspring of the business which not only published charts but also books on every aspect of geography, navigation and nautical matters.
Gerard Hulst van Keulen was a member of the distinguished van Keulen family, which was amongst the most prolific and highly respected families of Dutch cartographers active between about 1680 and 1822. While the family was renowned for its sea-charts and associated material, Gerard's arrival in the family business in 1757, along with his brother Cornelis Buys, heralded a change in direction. More books appeared and there was greater diversification in the cartographic side of the business.

(Sveriges sjökartor – A. Hedin.)

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