The Cartographic Artistry of Nicolas de Fer Nicolas de Fer, born in Paris in 1646, emerged from a family already steeped in the world of mapmaking. His father, Antoine de Fer, possessed a thriving cartographic business, and it was within this environment that young Nicolas’s fascination with geography and artistry began to blossom. Apprenticed at the tender age of twelve to the Parisian engraver Louis Spirinx, he honed his technical s…