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Johannes van Keulen (1654 inDeventer – 1715 inAmsterdam) was a 17th-centuryDutchcartographer. He published the influential nauticalatlas theZee-Atlas and the pilot guideZee-Fakkel (meaning Sea-Torch in English).
In 1678 Johannes van Keulen established himself in Amsterdam and in 1680 he obtained a patent from theStates of Holland and West Friesland allowing him to print and publish maritime atlases and shipping guides. These were books of maps and descriptions of itineraries, used by helmsmen for safe navigation. The patent was a kind of protection against illegal copying of produced books and charts. This was especially important for the atlases which were made with extensive initial costs. Van Keulen named his firm ‘In de Gekroonde Lootsman’ ('In the Crowned Pilot'). Soon Van Keulen struck a deal with cartographer Claes Jansz. Vooght.
From 1681 onwards theNieuwe Lichtende Zee-Fakkel appeared, a five-volume atlas for which Vooght compiled the maps[1] and which was illustrated by Jan Luyken. The five volumeZee-Fakkel made Johannes van Keulen famous. TheZee-Fakkel was published in 5 volumes between 1681 and 1684 containing over 130 new charts.
His son,Gerard van Keulen (1678–1726), continued his work and produced new editions of the various volumes. GrandsonJohannes II van Keulen (1704–1755) published a new edition of the volume with maps of Asian waters, first published in 1753. The wife of Johannes II,Catharina Buijs (1714–1781), took over the business when her husband died and assumed his position of official mapmaker for the Amsterdam office of the powerfulDutch East India Company.[2] On her death, her son,Gerard Hulst van Keulen (1733–1801) occupied himself with the last editions of theZee-Fakkel. The business prospered until 1885 when it was finally liquidated after operating successfully for more than two centuries.[2]
