Jan Jansson, the son of a bookseller and publisher, married the daughter of Jodocus Hondius in 1612. He produced maps of France and Italy in 1616, and issued an edition of Ptolemy's "Geography" in 1617. He likewise constructed globes. In 1633, in collaboration with his brother-in-law Henry Hondius, he issued a second volume of the "Mercator- Hondius Atlas." At this time, many of the maps were re-drawn or replaced and gradually the "Atlas" evolved into the "Atlas Novus" series which was to rival Blaeu's "Atlas Major" for size and quality. However, Jansson maps never achieved quite the same status as Blaeu's despite their relatively similar style and format. Jansson's business was later acquired by Peter Schenck.