Jodocus Hondius

Jodocus Hondius was a man who made maps.

He was an expert at making globes. These are round models of the Earth. He also made maps of the New World. He even made portraits of people.

He helped make Amsterdam a famous place for maps. He took old maps and made them new. This helped many people learn about the world.

His work was so good that it was used for a long time. Many people bought his books. He even had a name given to a part of Antarctica. He also has an asteroid named after him.

Jodocus Hondius was a famous mapmaker. He was born in 1563. He grew up in Ghent. Later, he lived in London and Amsterdam.

Hondius was an engraver. This means he carved designs into metal. He used these to print maps and globes. Globes are round models of the Earth or the stars. He made many types of globes. Some even showed the stars in the sky.

He was very good at his work. He helped make Amsterdam a center for mapmaking. He bought old maps by Gerard Mercator. Hondius added 36 new maps to them. This new book was a great success. People bought it very quickly.

Hondius also made maps of the New World. One map showed a bay in California. He made portraits of a man named Francis Drake. His family kept his business going after he died. Today, a part of Antarctica has his name. A small space rock also bears his name.

Jodocus Hondius was a famous maker of maps and globes. He was born in 1563 in a place called Wakken. He grew up in the city of Ghent. Later in his life, he moved to London and then to Amsterdam. He was an engraver, which means he carved designs into metal. This allowed him to print many maps and round globes. He helped make Amsterdam a very important center for mapmaking in Europe.

Making maps required many different skills and tools. Hondius worked as an instrument maker and a globe maker. He used copper plates to print books like the atlas by John Speed. He also made the parts for the first English globes. These globes were made by Emery Molyneux in 1592. Some people said these were the first globes published in Europe. They were helpful for students, leaders, and sailors on the sea.

His life took him across different countries. In 1584, he moved to London with his sister, Jacomina. He went there to escape religious difficulties in Flanders. While in England, he married Colette van den Keere. Her brother, Pieter, was also a mapmaker and an engraver. In 1593, Hondius moved to Amsterdam with his wife and Pieter. He stayed in Amsterdam until he died in 1612.

One of his biggest jobs was helping the work of Gerard Mercator. In 1604, Hondius bought Mercator's old map plates. He added 36 new maps to the original 107 maps. He was careful to give Mercator full credit as the author. This new version was a huge success and sold out in one year. He even made a smaller version called the Atlas Minor. This series of maps is now known as the Mercator/Hondius series.

Many people still remember his work today. Some scholars think his globes were used in famous paintings. The painter Johannes Vermeer might have painted Hondius's globes in his art. Even in space, his name lives on. A small space rock called an asteroid is named after him. There is also a place in Antarctica called the Hondius Inlet. His family continued his map business for many years after he died.

Jodocus Hondius was a highly influential Flemish engraver and cartographer. He lived during the Golden Age of Dutch cartography, which lasted from roughly 1570 to 1670. His work helped establish Amsterdam as the primary European center for mapmaking during the 17th century. Hondius was a master of several related crafts. He worked as an engraver, an instrument maker, and a globe maker. These skills allowed him to produce highly detailed maps and three-dimensional representations of the Earth.

To create his maps, Hondius used a process called engraving. He carved intricate designs into copper plates. These plates were then used to print maps and atlases. This method allowed for the mass production of accurate geographical information. He also produced the gores for the first English globes. Gores are the paper strips used to cover a sphere to create a globe. In 1592, he completed the gores for globes made by Emery Molyneux. These were described as the first globes published in Christendom. They served a wide variety of people, including scholars, the gentry, and mariners.

Hondius's career involved significant movement across Europe. He was born in Wakken and raised in Ghent. In 1584, he moved to London with his sister, Jacomina. This move was intended to help him escape religious difficulties in Flanders. While in London, he married Colette van den Keere in 1587. Her brother, Pieter van der Keere, was also a mapmaker and engraver. In 1593, Hondius moved to Amsterdam with his wife and Pieter. He remained in Amsterdam until his death in 1612.

One of his most important achievements was reviving the legacy of Gerard Mercator. In 1604, Hondius collaborated with the publisher Cornelis Claesz to purchase Mercator's atlas plates. At that time, Mercator's work had fallen behind a rival work by Ortelius called the *Theatrum Orbis Terrarum*. Hondius republished the atlas and added 36 new maps to the original 107. He even included several maps that he produced himself. Despite these additions, he gave Mercator full credit as the author. He listed himself only as the publisher. This new edition was a massive success and sold out within one year. This collection is now known as the Mercator/Hondius series.

Hondius was also known for his work documenting famous explorers. He helped publicize the travels of Francis Drake, who circumnavigated the world in the late 1570s. In 1589, Hondius created a famous map of the bay of New Albion. This map showed where Drake established a settlement at Drake's Cove in California. Hondius is also believed to have painted several portraits of Drake. These portraits are currently held in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

His technical skills led to several historical firsts in cartography. In his 1607 French edition of the *Atlas Minor*, he included a thematic map. This map, titled *Designatio orbis christiani*, showed the dispersion of major religions. It was one of the first times map symbols were used to show a specific theme. He also used copper plates to print John Speed's atlas, *The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine*, around 1611. His influence on the field was so great that his family continued his business for decades. His widow, his two sons, and his son-in-law, Johannes Janssonius, all continued the publishing work. The atlas eventually saw about 50 editions released in major European languages.

Today, the impact of Hondius's work can be seen in art and science. Scholars believe that the globes in Johannes Vermeer's paintings are based on Hondius's designs. In *The Astronomer*, a scholar consults a celestial globe. In *The Geographer*, a terrestrial globe sits atop a cabinet. These paintings, created in 1668 and 1669, reflect the importance of Hondius's globes in the 17th century. His name is also preserved in geography and astronomy. There is a Hondius Inlet in Antarctica. Additionally, a 3.2 km main-belt asteroid was named the Hondius in his honor.