Johann Baptist Homann, German cartographer and engraver, studied with the Jesuits to prepare for an ecclesiastical career. Converted to Luther's Reformed Church, from 1687 he worked in Nuremberg as a notary. He studied cartography and engraving and in 1702 founded his own publishing house, soon becoming the most important German printer of maps and atlases. In 1715 he was appointed Imperial Geographer by Emperor Charles VI and a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. In 1716 he published his masterpiece Homann Grosser Atlas ueber die ganze Welt. Upon his death, the heirs continued to produce high quality papers. The printing shop was closed in 1848 with the death of the last owner, Christoph Franz Fembo (1781-1848).
