Huydecoper was mayor of Amsterdam and had great influence with the Dutch East India Company, while Commelin was a merchant in herbs and pharmaceuticals.
Because of their contacts in the businessworld and their practical horticultural experience, they received a constant stream of plants, seeds, bulbs and cuttings to be cultivated far from their place of origin.
The other artists were Alida Withoos (13 aquarels) and Johanna Helena Herolt-Graff (daughter of Maria Sibylla Merian) with 2 sheets; 31 paintings were unsigned.
The heraldic arms of Huydecoper and Commelin, painted by Jan Moninckx, were used to decorate volume 1 of the Atlas.
A recent scanning of the complete work has made the plates and text available on the University of Amsterdam website.
On 23 May 1682 Jan signed a betrothal register in Amsterdam, stating his intention to marry Anna Geestevelt.
In 1698 Jan signed a notarial document authorising the sale of a house at Voorburg that had belonged to his deceased father-in-law.