Jodocus Hondius sr. (1563 - 1612)

Field(s) of interest: Cartography | mathematics
Gender: male

Born: Wakken, 1563
Died: Amsterdam, 1612

Biography:
Mathematician, instrument maker (of globes), engraver, publisher and cartographer born in Wakken (Belgium). His parents moved to Ghent when he was two years old. In his early twenties, De Hondt moves to London, where he works as an engraver and where he makes his first globes. He also changes his name into a Latin version: Jodocus Hondius. In 1587, he married Colette van den Keere. Six years later, in 1593, he moved to Amsterdam, where he opened his own shop. During those years, he was one of the most important publishers in Amsterdam. In 1600 he sold a few astrolabia catholica and several globes to the expedition of Jacob van Neck. After his death, his company was taken over by his widow, and later by his sons Jodocus and Henricus.

Collection: Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum Amsterdam; Arezzo City Library; Maritiem Museum Rotterdam.

Occupations:
instrument maker and engraver: ~1584 (London)

instrument maker: ~1600 (Amsterdam)

Sources:
Hondius, J. en R. Hues, Tractaet, ofte handelinge van het gebruijck der hemelscher ende aertscher globe : gheaccommodeert naer die bollen, die eerst ghesneden zijn in Enghlandt door Io. Hondium, anno 1693 [=1593] (Amsterdam 1597).

van der Krogt, P.C.J. Old globes in the Netherlands : a catalogue of terrestrial and celestial globes made prior to 1850 and preserved in Dutch collections (Utrecht 1984).

Hackman, W. 'Exhibition Reviews: Antique Fair at Arezzo, 29 May - 6 June 1993', in: Bulletin of Scientific Instrument Society 38 (1993).

de Jonge, J.K.J. De opkomst van het Nederlandsch gezag in Oost-Indië (1595-1610) : verzameling van onuitgegeven stukken uit het Oud-koloniaal archief , dl. I ('s Gravenhage 1862).

van der Krogt, P.C.J. The globes of Hondius : a most important pair of globes showing the results of the earliest Dutch exploration voyages to the East Indies (Utrecht 1991).