- Title: Ins. Ceilan quae incolis Tenarifin dicitur
- Author: Jodocus Hondius
- Date: c. 1630
- Medium: Hand-colored copperplate engraving
- Condition: Very good +
- Inches: 19.5 x 13.5 [Plate Mark]
- Centimeters: 49.53 x 34.29 [Plate Mark]
- Product ID: 222002
Map of present-day Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon
Jodocus Hondius was born in Wakken, Belgium in 1563. He grew up in Ghent, where he honed his skills as an engraver, instrument maker, and globe maker during his early years. Religious tensions in Flanders, however, prompted a move to London in 1584 with his sister Jacomina. There, in 1587, he found both love and collaboration. He married Colette van den Keere, daughter of metal type engraver Hendrik van den Keere, and entered into a partnership with her brother Pieter, a fellow mapmaker and engraver.
In 1593, Hondius, accompanied by his wife and Pieter van den Keere, made Amsterdam his permanent home. There, he embarked on a pivotal collaboration. In 1604, he joined forces with Amsterdam publisher Cornelis Claesz to acquire the printing plates for Gerard Mercator's famed Atlas. Mercator's work had been overshadowed by Ortelius's "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum."
Hondius didn't just revive Mercator's legacy; he expanded it. He meticulously republished the Atlas, adding 36 new maps (alongside the original 107), some of his own creation. Despite these contributions, Hondius remained humble, crediting Mercator as the author and himself as the publisher. This revitalized Atlas was a runaway success, selling out within a year.