Pierre Vander Aa (1659 - 1733)
Dutch publisher, bookseller, engraver and mapmaker active in Leiden during the late c.17th and early c.18th centuries.
Born in Leiden, the son of the bookseller Boudewijn van der Aa, hr entered the book trade at an early age, establishing himself as an independent publisher by the 1680s. From his premises on the Rapenburg canal he developed one of the most prolific publishing houses in the Dutch Republic.
Van der Aa is best known for his ambitious compilations of travel literature, voyages, and geographical works, many of them lavishly illustrated with engraved maps and plates. Among his most significant enterprises were important collections of voyages to Asia, Africa, and the Americas, including the Galerie agréable du monde (1728–1733), a vast illustrated compendium of global travel accounts. He also issued numerous atlases, town views, and regional maps, many distinguished by clear engraving and elaborate baroque ornament. Operating at a time when the Dutch book trade was highly competitive, van der Aa demonstrated commercial ingenuity. He capitalised on the public appetite for overseas exploration, colonial expansion, and ethnographic curiosity.
Van der Aa remained active in Leiden until his death in 1733. His publishing house continued briefly under his heirs.
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