Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
At home on the Main
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY, 1682
In 17th-century Europe, maps and other engravings were often produced, published and sold
by family businesses. Some of these small firms lasted for generations, passed from fathers to
sons or other relatives. The creator of this map, Matthäus Merian the elder (1593-1650), was
born into one such family - the Merians of Basel, in Switzerland - and married into another
- the de Brys of Frankfurt. He learnt the art of engraving in Zurich and worked in several
European cities before meeting and marrying Maria Magdalena de Bry whilst employed by
her father, Johann Theodore. On his father-in-law's death in 1623, Merian settled perman-
ently in Frankfurt to run the de Brys' publishing business, and later passed it on to his own
sons. One of his daughters, Maria Sibylla, broke with the conventions of her era to achieve
some success as a naturalist and scientific illustrator.
