Publishers and printsellers
Janeway, Richard (active 1699) Printer.
Janssonius, Johannes (1588-1664) Dutch. Book and print publisher in Amsterdam. Born in Arnhem where his father was a bookseller and publisher (Jan Janszoon the Elder). In 1612 he married the daughter of the cartographer and publisher Jodocus Hondius, and then set up in business in Amsterdam as a book publisher. In 1616 he published his first maps of France and Italy and from then onwards he produced a very large number of maps, perhaps not quite rivaling those of the Blaeu family but running a very close second in quantity and quality. From about 1630 to 1638 he was in partnership with his brother-in-law, Henricus Hondius, issuing further editions of the Mercator/Hondius atlases to which his name was added. On the death of Henricus he took over the business, expanding the atlas still further, until eventually he published an 11-volume Atlas Major on a scale similar to Blaeu's Atlas Major. Died in Amsterdam.
Jefferys, Thomas (1719-71) Engraver, cartographer and print publisher. His family may have come from the Birmingham area, but by the time he was apprenticed to Emmanuel Bowen in 1735, he was living in Clerkenwell, London. Appointed geographer to George III in 1760. Produced some of the most important eighteenth-century maps of the Americas. His son, also Thomas, continued his business in St Martin's Lane after his death, in partnership with Willliam Faden until 1776.
Jenner, Thomas (fl.1618-d.1673) Jenner was one of the main London print publishers and sellers; his active career spanned over half a century. His beginnings remain obscure. He was a member of the Grocers' Company, and was possibly the Thomas Jenneu, son of James, who received his freedom in 1619. His earliest publication, a portrait by Delaram (Hind II 229.28), is securely dated to 1618. There are strong reasons for thinking that he took over the short-lived business of Maurice Blount which was at the same address. The prints made for him in 1621 by Willem de Passe, who was married to an 'Elisabeth Jennerts'—presumably a relation—were the finest produced in London at the time, and were entered into the Stationers' register on his behalf by George Fairbeard. Jenner still produced some significant plates in the 1630s (e.g. the portrait of the Earl of Northumberland by Cornelis van Dalen, Hind III 254.5), but his stock went steadily down-market over the years, and by his death he was only a marginal figure. His first address was at the White Bear in Cornewall (i.e. Cornhill). Later he gave it as at the White Bear near the Exchange (or sometimes at the South Entrance of the Royal Exchange, eg Hind III 329.3 of the 1630s). This could be the same place under a different name, but the fact that he changed the address on various plates (e.g. Willem de Passe's engraving of the Earl of Holland, Hind II 290.8) suggests that he had actually moved. The move can be dated to 1624 or before from a broadsheet of the Houses of Convocation (in the BM), which gives an address 'at the Exchange'. Skelton noted (p. 235) that his prints and maps of the 1640s show a strongly Parliamentarian bias, and in 1644 he and Henry Holland were both engaged in buying clothing for Parliamentary soldiers (CSP Dom. 1644, p. 147). In 1651 he wrote a political pamphlet, 'London's blame if not its shame', attacking supine government policy over the fishing industry. Although Jenner was a specialist print publisher, many of his publications include letterpress. He also etched a few plates himself: a portrait of Oliver Cromwell that was included in a book of 1654 (Hind III p.252), a copy of Payne's Sovereign of the Seas, and a set of natural history plates. From 1662 survives a two-page catalogue of his publications, which he added to copies of 'A Book of the Names of all Parishes'. It is most informative, giving the titles of most items. There were 25 illustrated books with text, 17 maps (for which see Skelton p. 244), 55 single larger plates and sets of prints, and 64 small plates. He also sold blank forms for bonds, bills, bills of lading and indentures, and advertised imported Dutch prints. Much information about him can be deduced from his will drawn up in 1666, in which he bequeathed £400 to his wife, and the residue divided between her and his sister's three children. He bequeathed 20s. to John Garrett, 'desiring his care and assistance for the good and benefit of my wife'. It was Garrett, together with John Overton, who drew up a probate inventory of his estate in 1674. His property was valued at £312 16s 9d, and included 117 hundredweight of old copper plates valued at 2s 8d per pound. His debtors included Overton and Robert Walton. (The will is about to be published by Giles Mandlebrote). The business and shop were acquired by John Garrett (see Tyacke p. 118).
Jode, Pieter de (1601-74?) Flemish. Engraver; son of Pieter de Jode I; born in Antwerp, active in Antwerp and worked for Van Dyck (his work is often difficult to distinguish from that of his father). 1631-32 in Paris, 1667 in Brussels. Died in England?
Johnson, Thomas (active 1630-6) A printseller. He was perhaps the same man as was bound apprentice to Christopher Wilson in 1604 and freed in 1611 (McKenzie p. 137), but there is no sign of his ever publishing books (see Plomer and STC). The only date found on the limited number of prints he published is 1630. In that year he altered a anonymous plate of Maurice, Prince of Orange into Frederick Henry of Orange (Hind II 377.32). He republished three sets from Roger Daniell: the book of Animalium quadrupedum (Griffiths no. 86) which is also dated 1630; and sets of the twelve months and the twelve sibyls (Griffiths p. 312). A set of twelve roundels with scenes from Aesop, which do not seem to have come from an earlier publisher (Griffiths p. 312), were (like the sibyls) intended to be used on trenchers. One plate of James I (Hind II 57.12) came from Compton Holland. Among undated plates is Cockson's Lord Howard of Effingham which he altered into Christian IV (Hind I 249.22). Some of Johnson's plates later ended in the hands of Stent (Globe p. 217). His widow is recorded in the Stationers' Company Poor Book between 1636 and 1654 (STC). Britain's Burse was a line of shops in the Strand, north of Durham House, erected by Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, that was opened and named by James I in 1609; these were the first shops to be opened in west London (see Survey of London, XVIII 1937, pp. 94-6). Johnson was thereby one of the first printsellers to work west of the City.
Johnston, Andrew (fl. 1700-18) Engraver.
Jonghe, Clement de (1624/5-77) Dutch. Print, map dealer and publisher in Amsterdam. It is probable that during Rembrandt's lifetime, he acquired seventy-four of his copper plates. He used address 'in de Calverstraat inde gekroonde konst en kaert-winckel' from 1662 to his death in 1677.
Jordan, J (active 1680-2) Bookseller and publisher in London.
Jordan, Timothy (active 1714-49) Printseller, sometimes in partnership with Thomas Bakewell; publisher with Bakewell of a print in the British Museums's Department of Prints & Drawings (1880,1113.2263) that could date from 1714-1725.