Frederick de Wit ( 1630 - 1706)

De Wit was born Frederik Hendriksz was born to a Protestant family in Gouda, Netherlands. Frederik was married on 29 August 1661, to Maria van der Way (1632–1711), the daughter of a wealthy Catholic merchant in Amsterdam and from about 1648 until his death in 1706 lived and worked in Amsterdam. By 1654 he had opened a printing office and shop under the name “De Drie Crabben” (the Three Crabs), in 1655, he changed the name to, “Witte Pascaert” (the White Chart).

By 1654 he began to publish his first charts and by 1662 he issued his first complete atlas. By 1671, he was publishing a large folio atlas with as many as 100 maps. In 1689, De Wit received a 15 year privilege from the states of Holland and West Friesland that protected his right to publish and sell his maps. After De Wit’s death in 1706, his wife Maria continued the business for four years printing and editing De Wit’s maps until 1710 when she sold the firms stock at auction. Most of the atlas plates and some of the wall map were sold to Pieter Mortier (1661–1711).