Abraham Goos

The map engraver for John Speed’s atlas, ‘A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World’. Goos also worked as engraver for the major cartographic publishers of the day in Amsterdam: the Hondius and Blaeufamilies. His only independent publication was the ‘Nieuw Nederlandtsch Caertboeck’ (1616). Abraham’s son, Pieter Goos (1616–1675), was one of the best-known maritime booksellers of Amsterdam, responsible for publishing a number of very popular sea atlases, reissued over decades. His marketing strategy was simple, and explicitly stated: that his works were as beneficial to gentlemen and merchants as to pilots and seamen. This bias towards a gentleman’s library is evident in the minimal revision that the atlas and charts underwent over time, and the beauty of the cartography as seen in his famous double-hemisphere world map.