ArtistGerman
Johann Baptist Homann
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Johann Baptist Homann was born on 20 March 1664 in Oberkammlach, a small village in Bavaria. His early education was shaped by the Jesuits, and for a period he was drawn toward monastic life, but in 1687 he converted to Protestantism and left that path behind. He settled in Nuremberg, where he worked as a civil law notary while quietly teaching himself the techniques of copperplate engraving. A period of study in Vienna during the early 1690s sharpened his craft, and by 1702 he had founded his own publishing house in the city.
Nuremberg was already a printing centre with deep traditions in scientific and commercial publishing, and Homann positioned himself within that tradition while adding something new. His early output was substantial and varied, covering Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the celestial heavens. His first significant atlas, the 33-map Neuer Atlas, appeared in 1707, and a greatly expanded edition of 60 maps followed in 1710. The pace of publication was remarkable, and in 1715 Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI appointed Homann as Imperial Geographer, granting him a form of early copyright protection, the 'Privilege', which gave his firm a commercial and reputational advantage. He was also admitted to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin that same year.
The visual character of Homann's maps drew on the Baroque tradition: elaborate cartouches, allegorical figures, decorative borders, and rich hand-applied colour. But the content was informed by serious geographic scholarship. He corresponded with and drew on the work of figures such as the French cartographer Guillaume Delisle, and his maps reflected the latest available survey data and geographic knowledge from Europe's expanding network of exploration and scientific observation. His 1716 masterpiece, Grosser Atlas uber die ganze Welt, brought together his most ambitious cartographic statements on a global scale. His maps of Scandinavia, including the 1716 sheet covering Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, incorporated the geopolitical realities of the Great Northern War then still unfolding across the region.
Homann died on 1 July 1724. The firm passed first to his son Johann Christoph Homann, who died in 1730, and thereafter to the managers Johann Georg Ebersberger and Johann Michael Franz, who continued publishing under the name Homann Heirs (Homannsche Erben). The publishing house remained active until 1852, issuing updated atlases and maps for well over a century after its founder's death, which speaks to the quality and commercial durability of the original enterprise.
On Auctionist, Homann's work appears in the collectibles and drawings categories across 13 recorded lots, including atlas volumes and individual maps of the Americas, Stockholm, and the broader world. Items have appeared at Bruun Rasmussen in Lyngby, Balclis, Metropol, and Borås Auktionshall. The top result in our database is an atlas volume that sold for 8,130 SEK, with individual maps trading from a few hundred SEK to over 1,000 DKK. His work circulates steadily in the Nordic market, appealing to both map collectors and those drawn to antique works on paper with decorative and historical value.