Carel Allard (1648 - 1709) was a Dutch art dealer, cartographer and engraver. In the 17th century, the Allard family published various maps in Amsterdam. Carel was the son of mapmaker and engraver Hugo Allard. He appears to have been somewhat prolific and successful than his father: he produced in his lifetime a 1697 Atlas Minor, the c. 1705 Atlas Major and several other works with engraved plates, as well as continuing to publish from his father's stock. He passed along his copperplates to his son Abraham (1676-1725) prior to going bankrupt in 1706. More by this mapmaker...

Covens and Mortier (1721 - c. 1862) was an Amsterdam publishing firm, the successor to the extensive publishing empire built by Pierre Mortier (1661 - 1711). Covens and Mortier maps are often criticized as derivative - but this is not fully the case. Pierre Mortier lived in Paris from 1681 to 1685. There he established close relationships the the greatest French cartographers of the era, including De L'Isle and D'Anville. His business model was based upon leveraging Dutch printing technology and sophistication to co-publish state of the art French cartography. Upon Mortier's death in 1711 his firm was taken over by his son, Cornelius Mortier (1699 - 1783). Cornelius married the sister of Johannes Covens (1697 - 1774) in 1721 and, partnering with his brother in law, established the Covens and Mortier firm. Under the Covens and Mortier imprint, Cornelius and Johannes continued in Pierre's model of publishing the most up-to-date French works with permission. They quickly became one of the largest and most prolific Dutch publishing concerns of the 18th century. The firm and its successors published thousands of maps over a 120 year period from 1721 to the mid-1800s. During their long lifespan the Covens and Mortier firm published as Covens and Mortier (1721 - 1778), J. Covens and Son (1778 - 94) and Mortier, Covens and Son (1794 - c. 1862). Learn More...

Philip Tideman (1657-1705) was a Hamburg-born painter, active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. There, he became associated with painter Gerard de Lairess, in whose work Tideman's compositions sometimes appear. Tideman began to make a name for himself with his allegorical paintings with which he decorated the homes of many of the important men; these have been captured in de Lairess' paintings of those spaces. Tideman also partnered with engraver Gilliam van der Gouwen 1650-1720), who committed Tideman's images to print. Their partnership extended to maps, for example in the allegorical cartouches featured on many of the maps printed by Carel Allard. Learn More...

Gilliam van der Gouwen, (c. 1657 - March 15, 1716) was a Flemish engraver active in the Netherlands during the Dutch Golden Age. He is known for his reproductive engravings and various title pages, maps and illustrations produced in Amsterdam. He was born in Antwerp, and was trained there as an engraver by Pieter van Lisebetten. In June 1680 was in Amsterdam taking drawing classes with German painter Pieter Rodingh. He also is understood to have studied with painter Gerard de Lairesse, and collaborated with him on a number of publications. It is likely that this association put him in contact with artist Philip Tideman (1657-1705) with whom he would collaborate extensively. Learn More...