Gerard van Schagen

Gerrit Lucasz van Schagen or Schaagen (Latinised as Gerardus a Schagen; ) was an engraver and cartographer from Amsterdam, known for his exquisite reproductions of maps, particularly of those by Nicolaes Visscher I and Frederick de Wit. He lived and worked in Amsterdam, on the Haarlemmerdijk near the New Haarlem sluice at the house with the sign "In de Stuurman".

Biography The surname suggests that Gerrit or his father Lucas may have been born in Schagen. On 24 April 1677 he married Gertruij Govers van Schendel/Schijndel. At this occasion he was "from Amsterdam, plaetsnijder (engraver) from profession, 35 years old, and living on the Haarlemmerdijk." After the death of Geertruij in September 1690, Gerrit, as widower of Geertruij and still living on the Haarlemmerdijk, remarried on 7 October 1695 with the 34-year old Anna Cornelis.

Career Gerrit Lucasz van Schagen worked in Amsterdam as an engraver and publisher of maps during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. His work focused largely on producing carefully engraved versions of maps originally created by well-known Amsterdam cartographers such as Nicolaes Visscher I and Frederick de Wit. In the Amsterdam map trade of the period, it was common for engravers to reproduce or adapt successful maps so that they could continue to circulate in new printings and formats.

Death A Gerrit van Schagen was buried 19 March 1724 at the Karthuizer cemetery in Amsterdam.