Editing Matthäus Merian the Elder (section)

==Biography==

===Early life and marriage===
Born in [[Basel]], Merian learned the art of [[intaglio printing|copperplate]] engraving in [[Zürich]].  He next worked and studied in [[Strasbourg]], [[Nancy, France|Nancy]], and [[Paris]], before returning to Basel in 1615. The following year he moved to [[Oppenheim]], [[Germany]] where he worked for the publisher Johann Theodor de Bry, who was the son of renowned engraver and traveler [[Theodor de Bry]].

In 1617, Merian married Maria Magdalena de Bry, daughter of the publisher, and was for a time associated with the de Bry publishing house. In 1620, when Oppenheim was destroyed by fire during the Spanish occupation, they moved back to Basel, but three years later returned to Germany, this time to [[Frankfurt]]. They had four daughters and three sons, including [[Matthäus Merian the Younger]]. Maria Magdalena de Bry died in 1645 and the following year Matthäus married Johanna Sibylla Heim.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Davis|first=Natalie Zemon|title=Women on the Margins: Three Seventeenth-Century Women|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1997|location=Cambridge, Mass|pages=142}}</ref> Five years later, Matthäus died, leaving his wife with two small children, [[Maria Sibylla Merian|Anna Maria Sibylla Merian]] (born 1647), who later became a pioneering [[naturalist]] and illustrator, and a son, Maximilian, who died before his third birthday.

===Later career===
In 1623 Merian took over the publishing house of his father-in-law after de Bry's death.  In 1626 he became a citizen of Frankfurt and could henceforth work as an independent publisher.  He spent most of his working life in Frankfurt.

Early in his life, he had created detailed town plans in his unique style, e.g. a plan of Basel (1615) and [[Merian plan of Paris|a plan of Paris]] (1615). With [[Martin Zeiler]] (1589–1661), a German geographer, and later ({{circa|1640}}) with his own son, Matthäus Merian (''der Jüngere'', i.e. "the Younger" or "Jr.") (1621–1687), he produced a series of ''Topographia''.  The 21-volume set was collectively known as the ''[[Topographia Germaniae]]''. It includes numerous town plans and views, as well as maps of most countries and a World Map—it was such a popular work that it was re-issued in many editions. He also took over and completed the later parts and editions of the ''Grand Voyages'' and ''Petits Voyages'', originally started by de Bry in 1590 and included volumes ''India Orientalis'' and ''America Occidentalis''.

Merian's work inspired the ''[[Suecia Antiqua et Hodierna]]'' by [[Erik Dahlberg]]. The German travel magazine ''[[Merian (magazine)|Merian]]'' is named after him.

He was also noted for the finesse of his alchemical illustrations, in books such as the ''[[Musaeum Hermeticum]]'' (1678) and ''[[Atalanta Fugiens]]'' (1618). He undertook the engravings for the encyclopaedic work of insect natural history ''De Serpentibus'', compiled by [[John Jonston]]. This tradition would be taken up by his daughter.

Matthäus Merian died after several years of illness in 1650 in [[Bad Schwalbach|Langenschwalbach]], near [[Wiesbaden]].

After his death, his sons [[Matthäus Merian the Younger|Matthäus Jr.]] and Caspar took over the publishing house.  They continued publishing the ''Topographia Germaniae'' and the ''[[Theatrum Europaeum]]'' under the name ''Merian Erben'' (i.e. Merian Heirs).