Coloniensis Archiepiscopatus

Henricus Hondius II (1597 - 1651)

Youngest son of Jodocus Hondius I, Dutch cartographer, engraver, and publisher, whose career represents the continuation and consolidation of the great cartographic enterprise initiated by his father, Jodocus Hondius I, and sustained in partnership with Jan Janssonius. Born in Amsterdam into a family of leading mapmakers, Henricus was educated within an environment deeply immersed in the geographical sciences, engraving, and the commercial publishing of atlases. His early training under his father’s direction provided him with technical mastery in both copperplate engraving and the compilation of geographical sources, disciplines that would underpin his later achievements. Following the death of his father in 1612, Henricus, together with his brother Jodocus II, assumed responsibility for the family’s publishing business. During the 1620s and 1630s, he worked in close collaboration with Jan Janssonius, who had married into the Hondius family. Their partnership culminated in the expansion and reissue of the Atlas Novus, a project that significantly enhanced and revised the cartographic legacy of Gerardus Mercator. Henricus’s contributions included the refinement of map plates, the addition of new geographical data drawn from contemporary explorations, and a distinctive stylistic sensibility in engraving that lent the Atlas both clarity and elegance. His editions of the Atlas Novus were notable for their technical precision and for the inclusion of regional maps that reflected the geopolitical realities of early c.17th Europe. The collaboration between Hondius and Janssonius effectively challenged the dominance of the Blaeu publishing house, marking a period of intense competition that advanced the overall quality of Dutch cartography. Beyond his role as a mapmaker, Henricus Hondius II was also an engraver of portraits and frontispieces, displaying an aesthetic sensibility that complemented his scientific rigour. His meticulous attention to typographic and decorative detail became a hallmark of the Hondius-Janssonius atlases. Henricus’s death in 1651 marked the end of a significant chapter in the Hondius lineage, yet his influence persisted through subsequent atlas editions that continued to bear his name. His career embodies the synthesis of artistry, technical skill, and scientific ambition that defined the Dutch Golden Age of cartography.

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