The cartouche of the map of Flanders, Artesia and Hainaut, published in Paris in 1660 by Nicolas (I) Berey
There are two 17th century French engravers, publishers and sellers of cards and prints that bear the name Nicolas Berey. It concerns father and son. To distinguish both of them, Nicolas senior in the literature is usually referred to as Nicolas (I) Berey and the son as Nicolas (II) Berey.
Nicolas (I) Berey (Chaource (?), about 1610 - Paris, June 30, 1665) was the son of Jean Berey from Chaource. His date of birth and place of birth are not known with certainty. He settled in Paris, where he married three times. From his first marriage, Nicolas (II) Berey was born (Paris, 1640-1667), who would also be active as an engraver, publisher and printer. From his second marriage, a daughter Jeanne and a son Claude-Auguste (Paris, 1660-1730) were born. The latter would also settle in Paris as an engraver, publisher and printer. Unlike his father, Claude-Auguste Berey apparently showed little or no maps.
Finally in 1644, Nicolas (I) Berey had a case at the Paris Quai des Augustins, with the signature of Les Deux Globes ("The Two World Spheres"). On the cards he published, he used to use the formula "A Paris chez Nicolas Berey proche les Augustins". It was a neighborhood at which time other publishers and traders of maps and prints were also located. Berey had professional contacts with several colleagues, including the well-known cartographer Nicolas de Fer. His cartographic works belong to the Carte Générale de Tournees de France, published around 1640, with all the routes and stops of postal services in France in the second quarter of the 17th century. It was a copy to a similar card by Nicolas Sanson; The edition of Berey is revamped at the edges with images of French cities and postcoats. In 1649 he issued a world map based on (and referring to) the world map of Jodocus Hondius from 1640.
Nicolas (I) Berey published under his own name a number of cards engraved by others. To this end he used existing printing plates that he acquired through purchase, and put on a cartouche with his own name. This is the case with the map of the counties of Flanders, Artesia and Hainaut from 1660. Its author is not known; It may be Christophe Tassin. This method was not unusual at the time.
At the death of Nicolas (I) Berey in June 1665, his son Nicolas (II) continued the publishing house and shop at the Quai des Augustins. But not so much later, in December 1667, the young Nicolas died as well. He was only 27 years old. The Les Deux Globes case was now owned by Alexis-Hubert Jaillot, who was married to Jeanne, the daughter of Nicolas (I) and half-sister of Nicolas (II). Jaillot, the sculptor of training, thus came to some extent by accident in the card publishing and trading industry. He would pop himself into one of the most important French cartographers from the second half of the 17th century. He would, among other things, work closely with the sons of Nicolas Sanson and the card dealer Pieter Mortier, whose son would later be the cradle of the famous Amsterdam publisher Covens and Mortier.
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