Willem Janszoon Blaeu also abbreviated to
Willem Jansz. Blaeu, was a
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
cartographer, atlas maker and publisher.
Blaeu was born at
UitgeestUitgeest is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.-Population centres :The municipality of Uitgeest consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Assum, Busch en Dam, Groot Dorregeest, Uitgeest....
or
AlkmaarAlkmaar is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination.-History:...
. As the son of a well-to-do
herringHerring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
salesman, he was destined to succeed his father in the trade, but his interests lay more in
MathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and
AstronomyAstronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
. Between 1594 and 1596 as a student of the
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
astronomerAn astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
Tycho BraheTycho Brahe , born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations...
he qualified as an instrument and
globeA globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
maker.
Once he returned to the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, 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 1633 he was appointed map-maker of the
Dutch East India CompanyThe Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
. He was also an editor and published the works of Willebrord Snell,
Adriaan MetiusAdriaan Adriaanszoon, called Metius, , was a Dutch geometer and astronomer. He was born in Alkmaar. The name Metius comes from the Dutch word meten , and therefore means something like "measurer" or "surveyor."-Father and brother:Metius was born at Alkmaar, North Holland...
,
Gerhard Johann Vossiusthumb|180px|Gerrit Johan VossiusGerrit Janszoon Vos , often known by his Latin name Gerardus Vossius, was a Dutch classical scholar and theologian.-Life:...
and the historian and poet
Pieter Corneliszoon HooftPieter Corneliszoon Hooft - Knight in the Order of Saint Michael - was a Dutch historian, poet and playwright from the period known as the Dutch Golden Age.-Life:...
. He died in
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
He had two sons,
JohannesJoan Blaeu was a Dutch cartographer.He was born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu.In 1620 he became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635 they published the Atlas Novus in two volumes...
and Cornelis
BlaeuBlaeu is the name of* Willem Janszoon Blaeu or Willem Blaeu, Dutch cartographer not to be confused with Willem Janszoon, a contemporary Dutch explorer* his sons Joan Blaeu and Cornelius Blaeu, cartographers...
, 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.
One of Blaeu's globes was purchased at auction by Maarten Magielse, a Dutch salesman, for the record price of 60.000 euro, about $80.000. Magielse is now renting it to the globe museum in Vienna, where it is being exhibited.
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