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Willem Janszoon Blaeu | |
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.jpg) Willem Janszoon Blaeu byJeremias Falck | |
| Born | 1571 |
| Died | 21 October 1638(1638-10-21) (aged 66–67) |
| Other names | Willem Jansz. Blaeu |
| Occupation(s) | Cartographer,atlas maker,publisher |
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈʋɪləmˈjɑnsoːmˈblʌu];[a] 1571 – 21 October 1638), also abbreviated toWillem Jansz. Blaeu, was a Dutchcartographer,atlas maker, andpublisher. Along with his sonJohannes Blaeu, Willem is considered one of the notable figures of theNetherlandish or Dutch school of cartography during its golden age in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Blaeu was born atUitgeest orAlkmaar. As the son of a well-to-doherring salesman, he was destined to succeed his father in the trade, but his interests lay more inmathematics andastronomy. Between 1594 and 1596, as a student of theDanishastronomerTycho Brahe, he qualified as an instrument andglobe maker.[1] During this time in 1596, his sonJoan Blaeu was born and he would also become a well established cartographer. Later in 1600 Willem discovered the second evervariable star, now known asP Cygni.
Once he returned toHolland, 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 theAtlas Novus published in 1635. In 1633 he was appointed map-maker of theDutch East India Company. He was also an editor and published works ofWillebrord Snell,Descartes,Adriaan Metius,Roemer Visscher,Gerhard Johann Vossius,Barlaeus,Hugo Grotius,Vondel and the historian and poetPieter Corneliszoon Hooft. He died inAmsterdam.
He had two sons,Johannes and Cornelis Blaeu, who continued their father's mapmaking and publishing business after his death in 1638. Prints of the family's works are still sold today. Original maps are rare collector items.
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Blaeu's maps were featured in the works of the Dutch painterJohannes Vermeer ofDelft (1632–1675), who holds a position of great honor among map historians. Several of his paintings illustrate maps hanging on walls or globes standing on tables or cabinets. Vermeer painted these cartographical documents with such detail that it is often possible to identify the actual maps. Evidently, Vermeer was particularly attached to a Willem Blaeu – Balthasar Florisz van Berckenrode map ofHolland andWest Friesland, as he represented it as a wall decoration in three of his paintings. Though no longer extant, the map's existence is known from archival sources and the second edition published by Willem Blaeu in 1621, titledNova et Accurata Totius Hollandiae Westfriesiaeq. Topographia, Descriptore Balthazaro Florentio a Berke[n]rode Batavo. Vermeer must have had a copy at his disposal (or the earlier one published by Van Berckenrode). Around 1658 he showed it as a wall decoration in his paintingOfficer and Laughing Girl, which depicts a soldier in a large hat sitting with his back to viewer, talking with a smiling girl who holds a glass in her hand. Bright sunlight bathes the girl and the large map on the wall. Vermeer's gift for realism is evidenced by the fact that the wall map, mounted on linen and wooden rods, is identifiable as Blaeu's 1621 map of Holland and West Friesland. He captures faithfully its characteristic design, decoration, and geographic content.[2]
His maps formed the bulk of theAtlas Maior, which became a collector's item in Amsterdam.
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