One of the most famous Dutch cartographers, Henricus Hondius (1597 – 1651) produced geographically factual maps that were also elaborate works of exquisite beauty. Hondius initially assisted his father, a pioneering cartographer who invented a method of reproducing spherical objects on a two-dimensional surface. Later opening his own firm in Amsterdam, Hondius created maps that solely depicted explored areas, whereas other cartographers illustrated unseen regions based on their imaginations. Hondius also devised double-hemisphere maps that set a precedent for cartography in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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