In 1678/79 Johannes van Keulen (1653/54-1715) settled in Amsterdam and in 1680 he received a patent from the States of Holland and Westfriesland for the printing and publishing of maritime atlases and seaman's guides. These were chart books and descriptions of sailing routes that the helmsman needed for safe navigation.

Johannes called his company 'In de Gekroonde Lootsman' and hung the accompanying sign on a house in Nieuwebrugsteeg on the corner of the current Prins Hendrikkade in Amsterdam. Van Keulen soon concluded an agreement with the mapmaker Claes Jansz. Vooght.

From 1681 the Nieuwe Lichtende Zee-Fakkel appeared, a five-part atlas, the maps of which were compiled by Vooght. The five-part Sea Torch made Johannes van Keulen famous.

His son Gerard van Keulen (1678-1726) continued his work and produced new editions of the various volumes. Grandson Johannes II van Keulen (1704-1755) edited the binding, published in 1755, with maps of Asian waters. Great-grandson Gerard Hulst van Keulen (1733-1801) has been involved with the latest editions of the Zee-Fakkel, to which the copy in this collection belongs.