Frederik de Wit

His father Hendrik Fredericsz (1608 – 29 July 1668)[2] was a hechtmaecker (knife handle maker) from Amsterdam,[3] and his mother Neeltij Joosten (d. before 1658) was the daughter of a merchant in Gouda.

Frederik was married on 29 August 1661, to Maria van der Way (1632–1711), the daughter of a wealthy Catholic merchant in Amsterdam.

[10][11] The first map that was both engraved and dated by De Wit was that of Denmark: "Regni Daniæ Accuratissima delineatio Perfeckte Kaerte van 't Conjnckryck Denemarcken" in 1659.

[12] His atlas of the Low Countries first published in 1667,[13] was named Nieuw Kaertboeck van de XVII Nederlandse Provinciën and contained 14 to 25 maps.

Through his marriage to Maria van der Way in 1661 he obtained, in 1662, the rights of Amsterdam citizenship[17] and was able to become a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1664.

[18] In 1689, De Wit requested and received a 15-year privilege from the states of Holland and West Friesland that protected his right to publish and sell his maps.

However, as De Wit's son Franciscus was already a prosperous stockfish merchant by this time and had little interest in his father's business, he did not take over the publishing house.

[23] At the auction most of the atlas plates and some of the wall map were sold to Pieter Mortier (1661–1711), a geographer, copper engraver, printer and publisher from Amsterdam.