"Atlas" title-page engraving
| Author: | Frederick de Witt (1610–1698) |
Frederick de Wit (1610–1698) was a famous art, print and map dealer of the 17th century based in Amsterdam. In cartography, he initially cooperated with other publishers, but later he began to publish his own atlases. De Wit’s atlases of the early period (1670–1689) did not contain a separate map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lithuania was presented in the original map as part of the whole Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 12 issues of which are known. De Wit bought a printing plate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at an auction where property of the Blaeu firm was being sold after the 1672 fire. He changed the plate radically, but a manifest similarity with the initial Johannes Blaeu map remained. The GDL map was subsequently reissued by other publishers: Peter Mortier, Iean Cóvens and Corneille Mortier, who had acquired De Wit’s property and publication rights.
Frederick de Wit (1610–1698) was a famous art, print and map dealer of the 17th century based in Amsterdam. In cartography, he initially cooperated with other publishers, but later he began to publish his own atlases. De Wit’s atlases of the early period (1670–1689) did not contain a separate map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Lithuania was presented in the original map as part of the whole Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 12 issues of which are known. De Wit bought a printing plate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at an auction where property of the Blaeu firm was being sold after the 1672 fire. He changed the plate radically, but a manifest similarity with the initial Johannes Blaeu map remained. The GDL map was subsequently reissued by other publishers: Peter Mortier, Iean Cóvens and Corneille Mortier, who had acquired De Wit’s property and publication rights.
