1728 Homann map of Azerbaijan and the Persian-Russia Frontier

Johann Baptist Homann (March 20, 1664 - July 1, 1724) was the most prominent and prolific map publisher of the 18th century. Homann was born in Oberkammlach, a small town near Kammlach, Bavaria, Germany. As a young man, Homann studied in a Jesuit school and nursed ambitions of becoming a Dominican priest before converting to Protestantism in 1687. Following his conversion, Homann moved to Nuremberg and found employment as a notary. Around 1693, Homann briefly relocated to Vienna, where he lived and studied printing and copper plate engraving until 1695. Afterward, he returned to Nuremberg, where, in 1702, he founded the commercial publishing firm that would bear his name. In the next five years, Homann produced hundreds of maps and developed a distinctive style characterized by heavy detailed engraving, elaborate allegorical cartouche work, and vivid hand color. Due to the lower cost of printing in Germany, the Homann firm could undercut the dominant French and Dutch publishing houses while matching their diversity and quality. By 1715, Homann's rising star caught the attention of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, who appointed him Imperial Cartographer. In the same year, he was also appointed a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Homann's prestigious title came with several significant advantages, including access to the most up-to-date cartographic information as well as the 'Privilege'. The Privilege was a type of early copyright offered to very few by the Holy Roman Emperor. Though less sophisticated than modern copyright legislation, the Privilege offered limited protection for several years. Most all J. B. Homann maps printed between 1715 and 1730 bear the inscription 'Cum Priviligio' or some variation. Following Homann's death in 1724, the firm's management passed to his son, Johann Christoph Homann (1703 - 1730). J. C. Homann, perhaps realizing that he would not long survive his father, stipulated in his will that the company would be inherited by his two head managers, Johann Georg Ebersberger (1695 - 1760) and Johann Michael Franz (1700 - 1761), and that it would publish only under the name 'Homann Heirs'. This designation, in various forms (Homannsche Heirs, Heritiers de Homann, Lat Homannianos Herod, Homannschen Erben, etc.) appears on maps from about 1731 onwards. The firm continued to publish maps in ever-diminishing quantities until the death of its last owner, Christoph Franz Fembo (1781 - 1848). More by this mapmaker...

Adam Olearius, or Ölschläger (September 24, 1599 – February 22, 1671) was a German scholar, mathematician, geographer and librarian. He is best known for his published reports of his travels to Safavid Persia. He was educated in Leipzig; after his studies he became librarian and court mathematician to Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. In 1633, he was appointed secretary to the Duke's embassy to Muscovy and Persia. Although the embassy - meant to establish the Duke's city of Friedrichstadt as the European terminus of a prospective overland silk route - was only partially successful, the embassy's journey down the Volga and to the Caspian Sea provided Olearius with the basis for some of the earliest descriptions of those regions based on actual observation; Olearius was responsible for the introduction of much of Persian literature and culture to Europe for the first time.

On his return, the Duke made Olearius his librarian and keeper of his cabinet of curiosities - a wise choive, as under his curation the Gottorp library and cabinet were greatly enriched in manuscripts, books, and works of art. Learn More...

Ruprecht Adam Schneider (fl. 1727-1760), also known as R.A.S. or Schneider the Younger, was a German engraver and artist who engraved for Johann Baptist and Johann Christoph Homann. As with many engravers, his education and life details are obscure. Learn More...