Willem Blaeu
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571 – 21 October 1638), also known as Willem Jansz. Blaeu (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪləm ˈjɑnszoːn ˈblʌu], was a Dutch cartographer, globe maker, and publisher. He was one of the leading figures of the Dutch school of cartography in the seventeenth century.
Also recorded as Guillaume Jean · Willem Jansz Blauw · Wilhelm Janszoon · Willem Janszoon Blau
Willem Blaeu
Attributed to Thomas de Keyser · Private collection · Public domain
- Born
- 1571.
- Died
- 1638.
- Nationality
- Dutch Republic.
- Occupation
- cartographer, publisher, instrument maker, astronomer, printmaker, map maker and printer.
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wikidata · Q520327 · wikipedia · Willem Blaeu
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
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Early life
Early life
Willem Blaeu was trained in astronomy under Tycho Brahe between 1594 and 1596, Blaeu established a workshop in Amsterdam where he produced globes, nautical charts, and maps. These works formed the basis of a series of atlases, including the Atlas Novus (1635), and were widely used in navigation and geographic study. In 1633 he was appointed mapmaker to the Dutch East India Company. After his death in 1638, his business was continued by his sons, including Joan Blaeu, who later published the multi-volume Atlas Maior, one of the most extensive atlases of the seventeenth century.
Documentary record
Willem Blaeu (1571 – 18 October 1638) was an astronomer, printer, publisher, cartographer and copperplate engraver. The birth is recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek; the death by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Amsterdam is recorded as a place of activity by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu was born in 1571 at Alkmaar or Uitgeest, in the Dutch Republic, the son of Stijntge and Jan Willemsz., a prosperous herring merchant. He was destined to succeed his father in the trade, but his interests lay more in mathematics and astronomy.
Career
Career
Between 1594 and 1596, as a student of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, he qualified as an instrument and globe maker. He would also become a well established cartographer. He made country maps and world globes, and as he possessed his own printing works, he was able to regularly produce country maps in an atlas format, some of which appeared in the Atlas Novus published in 1635. In 1600, Blaeu observed a star in the constellation Cygnus that had not previously been recorded. On 8 August of that year he measured its position using nearby stars, including Vega and Albireo, as reference points. The star initially appeared as a third-magnitude star but later decreased in brightness. It was later identified as a variable star and is now known as P Cygni. In 1633, he was appointed map-maker of the Dutch East India Company. He was also an editor and published works of Willebrord Snell, Descartes, Adriaan Metius, Roemer Visscher, Gerhard Johann Vossius, Barlaeus, Hugo Grotius, Vondel and the historian and poet Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft.
Later life and death
Later life and death
Willem Janszoon Blaeu died in Amsterdam on 21 October 1638. After his death, the publishing and cartographic business passed to his sons Joan Blaeu and Cornelis Blaeu, who continued their father's work. Cornelis died in 1644, after which Joan Blaeu carried on the enterprise. He later completed his father's atlas project, publishing the multi-volume Atlas Major, one of the most extensive atlases produced in the seventeenth century.
Works published by Willem Blaeu
Aardglobe (1599) Hemelglobe (1603) Nieuw Graetboeck (1605) Nywe Paskaerte (1606) 't Licht der zeevaert (1608) Spieghel der Schrijfkonste (1609) "Nova et Accurata Totius Hollandiae Westfriesiaeq. Topographia, Descriptore Balthazaro Florentio a Berke[n]rode Batavo" Tafelen van de declinatie der Sonne (1623) Tafelen van de breedte van de opgang der Sonne Zeespiegel, inhoudende een korte onderwysinghe inde konst der zeevaert, en beschryvinghe der seen en kusten van de oostersche, noordsche, en westersche schipvaert (1624) Pascaarte van alle de zeecusten van Europa (1625) Tweevoudigh onderwijs van de Hemelsche en Aerdsche globen; het een na de meyning van Ptolemævs met een vasten aerdkloot; het ander na de natuerlijcke stelling van N. Copernicus met een loopenden aerdkloot. Atlantis Appendix (1630) Appendix Theatri... et Atlantis... (1631) Atlas (1634) Novus Atlas (1635) Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1635) Toonneel des Aerdrycks (1635) Le Theatre du Monde (1635) Theatre du monde ou Nouvel Atlas (1638)
Blaeu's maps in the paintings of Johannes Vermeer
Maps produced by Blaeu appear in several paintings by the Dutch Golden Age artist Johannes Vermeer. Vermeer frequently included wall maps and globes in his interior scenes, and these objects are often depicted with sufficient detail to allow historians to identify specific printed examples. One of the most clearly identifiable examples is the wall map of Holland and West Friesland designed by Balthasar Florisz van Berckenrode and published by Blaeu in 1621. The map appears prominently in Vermeer's painting Officer and Laughing Girl, where its geography and decorative cartouches are visible behind the figures. A similar map also appears in Woman Reading a Letter. Cartographic material produced by the Blaeu firm also appears in Vermeer's painting The Geographer, where a sea chart on the wall has been identified as a chart published by the Blaeu workshop. His maps later formed the basis of the Atlas Maior, a large multi-volume atlas completed by his son Joan Blaeu and regarded as one of the major achievements of seventeenth-century Dutch cartography.
Literature
Krogt, van der, Peter CJ (2000), Koeman's Atlantes Neerlandici II: The Folio Atlases Published by Willem Jansz. Blaeu and Joan Blaeu, Houten: Hes & De Graaf publishers BV, ISBN 90-6194-438-4 P. J. H. Baudet: Leven en werken van Willem Jansz. Blaeu, Utrecht 1871. Johannes Keuning and Marijke Donkersloot-de Vrij (Edited): Willem Jansz. Blaeu: a biography and history of his work as cartographer and publisher, Amsterdam 1973. ISBN 90-221-1253-5
Identificatie Titel(s): Portret van Willem Jansz. Blaeu. Gvilielmvs Blaev (titel op object)
Jeremias Falck
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Willem Blaeu, revision 1359058197 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Luminet, Jean-Pierre. Willem Janszoon Blaeu. ResearchGate. March 2015.
- 2.Charles W. J. Withers, Hayden Lorimer. GEOGRAPHERS: BIOBIBLIOGRAPHICAL STUDIES, Volume 27. Continuum International Publishing Group. 14. 2008. 978-1-84706-156-0.
- 3.van der Krogt, Peter. 1998. "Vermeer's Blaeu Period." Mercator's World. 3 (5): 82.
- 4.Maps in the Paintings of Johannes Vermeer. Essential Vermeer.
- 5.Atlas Maior by Blaeu. Utrecht University Special Collections.
- 6.Graphic Arts: April 2010 Archives.
- 7.http://cartography.geog.uu.nl/research/atlantes.html
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Maps and atlases
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