Title:
Suffolcia vernacula Suffoske 

A hand coloured double-page engraved map of the English ceremonial county of Suffolk from Janssonius’s Atlas Novus.  The map shows Suffolk bordering Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The map is filled with excellent topographic detail on cities, towns, rivers, reliefs, lakes, forests and regional divisions. At the top a strapwork figurate title cartouche with deer and fallow deer surrounded by four cherubs holding up a cloth with nine heraldic coats of arms. A mileage scale cartouche in the bottom left and at the right a compass rose radiating rhumb lines and two sailing ships complete the map.

About the Cartographer
Johannes Janssonius (1588- 1664) born Jan Janszoon  (in English often incorrect Jan Jansson) was a Dutch cartographer and publisher who lived and worked in Amsterdam in the 17th century.

He produced his first maps in 1616 of France and Italy. In 1623 Janssonius owned a bookstore in Frankfurt am Main later also in Danzig, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Geneva and Lyon.  In the 1630s he formed a partnership with his brother in law henricus Hondius and together they published atlases as Mercator/Hondius/Janssonius.

Under the leadership of Janssonius the Hondius Atlas was steadily enlarged. Renamed Atlas Novus, it had three volumes in 1638, one fully dedicated to Italy. 1646 a fourth volume came out with “English County Maps”, a year after a similar issue by Willem Blaeu. Janssonius’ maps are similar to those of Blaeu, and he is often accused of copying from his rival, but many of his maps predate those of Blaeu and/or covered different regions. By 1660, at which point the atlas bore the appropriate name ‘Atlas Major’, there were 11 volumes, containing the work of about a hundred credited authors and engravers. It included a description of “most of the cities of the world” (Townatlas), of the waterworld (Atlas Maritimus in 33 maps), and of the Ancient World (60 maps).

After Janssonius’s death, the publishing company was continued by his son-in law, Johannes van Waesbergen.

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