Matthaus Merian the Younger

Matthaus Merian the Younger (1621–1687) was a Swiss engraver, publisher, and cartographer, born in Basel as the son of the noted engraver Matthaus Merian the Elder. Trained in his father’s workshop, he became skilled in copperplate engraving and print publishing, inheriting and continuing the family’s publishing house in Frankfurt after his father’s death in 1650. Under his direction the firm expanded its illustrated works, including city views, maps, and historical volumes that combined cartographic detail with elaborate pictorial embellishment.

Merian the Younger’s most important contributions were to the continuation of his father’s monumental topographical series, the Topographia Germaniae, which eventually extended to more than thirty volumes covering much of Europe. He also collaborated with Martin Zeiler and other authors to issue richly illustrated works that documented towns, landscapes, and political geography during the turbulent seventeenth century. His engravings blended accurate cartographic representation with artistic presentation, ensuring their appeal to scholars, collectors, and statesmen. Merian died in Frankfurt in 1687, leaving behind a body of work that helped define the visual record of early modern Europe.