Nolin published little original work, but he had personal and business relationships with some of the leading cartographers of the day, including 

 and Jean-Dominique Cassini. He became one of the most successful mapmakers in France by combining the decorative flair from Italian maps with the geographical accuracy of French cartography, as evident on his great wall map. Nolin claimed to be "Engraver to the King” and “Geographer to the Duke of Orleans”, despite holding neither title. After his death, his son -also named Jean Baptiste Nolin- inherited his father's copperplates and republished many of his maps throughout the 18th Century, working from the same premises in Paris.