Jodocus Hondius I

One of the notable figures in the Golden Age of Dutch cartography (c. 1570s–1670s), he helped establish Amsterdam as the centre of cartography in Europe in the 17th century.

• Name — Jodocus Hondius • Native Name — Joost de Hondt • Born — 17 October 1563 • Birthplace — Wakken, County of Flanders • Died — 12 February 1612 • Place of death — Amsterdam, Dutch Republic • Citizenship — Low Countries • Fields — Cartography • Spouse — Colette van den Keere • Partner — Pieter van den Keere (brother-in-law) • Children — Jodocus II Henricus Elizabeth (wife of Jan Janssonius)

Jodocus Hondius was born in Wakken in the County of Flanders (now Belgium), the son of Olivier de Hondt and Petronella van Havertuyn. He was raised in Ghent and trained there as an engraver, developing the drawing skills that supported his later work. By the early 1580s he was working as an engraver and also producing scientific instruments and globes. In 1584 he left Flanders for London with his sister Jacomina to escape religious difficulties. In 1587 in the Dutch Church of London, he married cartographer Colette van den Keere, the daughter of the engraver Hendrik van den Keere. He also worked with her brother Pieter van den Keere, a mapmaker and engraver. • Illustration — Hondius map of the bay of New Albion on the Pacific coast of North America

While in England, Hondius was instrumental in publicising the work of Francis Drake, who had made a circumnavigation of the world in the late 1570s. In particular, in 1589 Hondius produced a now famous map of the bay of New Albion at Drake's Cove, where Drake briefly established a settlement on the west coast of North America. Hondius is also thought to be the artist of several well-known portraits of Drake that are now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Also Hondius had engraved charts in the Mariners Mirrour (1588) and the gores for the first English globes, those of Emery Molyneux completed in 1592. • Illustration — Hondius's (or his predecessors') use of multiple sources can be illustrated by this map of Asia, which shows Beijing three times: twice as "Khanbaliq" (Combalich in the land of 'Kitaisk' on the Ob River, and Cambalu, in 'Cataia'), and once as "Paquin", in the prefecture of Xuntien

In 1604 Hondius acquired the copperplates of Gerardus Mercator's Atlas from Mercator's heirs and prepared a revised edition in Amsterdam. The new atlas, published in 1606, retained the 107 maps that had appeared in Mercator's 1595 edition but added 37 newly engraved maps produced by Hondius and other cartographers. Several of these new maps were engraved by Hondius himself. Through these additions Hondius expanded the geographic scope of the work. The atlas included new regional maps of Africa, Asia, and the Americas, as well as additional maps of European regions. Hondius also introduced four new continent maps while retaining the earlier continent maps from Mercator's atlas. Despite these revisions Hondius continued to credit Mercator as the author of the atlas while identifying himself as its publisher. The atlas combined Mercator's earlier plates with newly engraved maps produced in Hondius's Amsterdam workshop. Hondius's new edition of Mercator's work was a great success, selling out after a year. Hondius later published a second edition, as well as a pocket version Atlas Minor. The maps have since become known as the "Mercator/Hondius series". After Hondius's death in 1612 the atlas continued to be published by his sons and later in partnership with his son-in-law Jan Janssonius.

Hondius died, aged 48 (1612), in Amsterdam. After his death, his publishing work in Amsterdam was continued by his widow, two sons, Jodocus II and Henricus, and son-in-law Jan Janssonius, whose name appears on the Atlas as co-publisher after 1633. His grandson Jodocus III would also follow in his family's footsteps. Eventually, starting with the first 1606 edition in Latin, about 50 editions of the Atlas were released in the main European languages. In the Islamic world, the atlas was partially translated by the Turkish scholar Kâtip Çelebi. The series is sometimes called the "Mercator/Hondius/Janssonius" series because of Janssonius's later contributions.

His recorded languages were Dutch and Latin. He married Colette van den Keere. 2 children are recorded: Jodocus Hondius II and Henricus Hondius II. Other recorded relations include Jan Janssonius.

Jodocus Hondius I is recorded as cartographer, printmaker, publisher and instrument maker.