Johannes Kip also known as "Jan" (Born around 1652/53) was born in Amsterdam. He died in 1722 in Westminster. Kip was a print dealer, engraver and draftsman. Working with Knyff Leonard, he made a specialty of engraved views of country houses of England. He was a pupil of Stopendaal Bastiaen from 1668 to 1670. He then set up on his own. Kip’s earliest dated engravings are from 1672. At the age of 27, in April 1680, he married Elisabeth Breda. After producing works in Amsterdam for the court of William of Orange, he followed Mary and William to London and settled in Farringdon in St. John Street, where he conducted a very successful business selling prints. At the same time he worked for a number of publishers in London producing engravings after such artists as Barlow Francis and Gabriel Cibber Caius, mainly for book illustrations.
Kip made several engraved plates for “A Collection of Voyages & Travels” by Awnsham & John Churchill. His outstanding works were the large folio illustrations (fold-out) for Britannia Illustrata, for the more than 60 folio plates that he engraved for Sir Atkyns Robert pertaining to ancient times, The Ancient and Present State of Glostershire, and for The New Theater of Great Britain, or exact description of the Queen's palaces, and the most important Houses of the Lords and Gentlemen of Great Britain, an extended reprint in collaboration with other artists. Kip is considered to be one of the England's finest topographical engravers of his time.
