Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673) was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer

Willem Blaeu Willem Janszoon Blaeu (; 157121 October 1638), also abbreviated to Willem Jansz. Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer, atlas maker and publisher. Along with his son Johannes Blaeu, Willem is considered one of the notable figures of the Netherlandis ...

Life

In 1620, Blaeu became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635, they published the '' Atlas Novus'' (full title: ''Theatrum orbis terrarum, sive, Atlas novus'') in two volumes. Joan and his brother Cornelius took over the studio after their father died in 1638. Blaeu became the official cartographer of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

like his father before him. Blaeu died in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

on 21 December 1673. He is buried in the

Westerkerk The Westerkerk (; en, Western Church) is a Reformed church within Dutch Protestant Calvinism in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the most western part of the Grachtengordel neighborhood ( Centrum borough), next to the Jordaan, betwe ...

there.

Maps

Blaeu Americae Nova Tabula 1614 (1617) UTA

Blaeu's world map, ''Nova et Accuratissima Terrarum Orbis Tabula,'' incorporating the discoveries of

Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first known European explorer to reach New ...

, was published in 1648. This map was revolutionary in that it "depicts the solar system according to the heliocentric theories of

Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated ...

, which show the earth revolving around the sun.... Although Copernicus's groundbreaking book ''On the Revolutions of the Spheres'' had been first printed in 1543, just over a century earlier, Blaeu was the first mapmaker to incorporate this revolutionary heliocentric theory into a map of the world." Blaeu's map was copied for the map of the world set into the pavement of the Groote Burger-Zaal of the new Amsterdam Town Hall, designed by the Dutch architect

Jacob van Campen Jacob van Campen (2 February 1596 - 13 September 1657) was a Dutch artist and architect of the Golden Age. Life He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and with time on his hand ...

(now the Amsterdam Royal Palace), in 1655. Blaeu's ''Hollandia Nova'' was also depicted in his ''Archipelagus Orientalis sive Asiaticus'' published in 1659 in the ''Kurfürsten Atlas'' (Atlas of the Great Elector). and used by Melchisédech Thévenot to produce his map, ''Hollandia Nova—Terre Australe'' (1664). He also published the 12-volume "Le Grand Atlas, ou Cosmographie blaviane, en laquelle est exactement descritte la terre, la mer, et le ciel". One edition is dated 1663, in folio , that contained 593 engraved maps and plates. Around 1649, Blaeu published a collection of Dutch city maps named '' Toonneel der Steeden'' (''Views of Cities''). In 1651, he was voted into the

council. In 1654, Blaeu published the first atlas of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, devised by

Timothy Pont Rev Timothy Pont (c. 1560–c.1627) was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an ...

. Being fiercely competitive with his contemporary

Johannes Janssonius Johannes Janssonius (1588, Arnhem – buried July 11, 1664, Amsterdam) (born Jan Janszoon, in English also Jan Jansson) was a Dutch cartographer and publisher who lived and worked in Amsterdam in the 17th century. Biography Janssonius was ...

in who could make an atlas with the higher quantity of maps, Blaeu in 1662 published the ''Atlas Maior'', it had 11 volumes and included 600 maps. This atlas became a status symbol for those who owned it and was the most expensive book of the 17th century. A

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

was planned as their next project, but a fire destroyed the studio completely in 1672.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blaeu, Joan 17th-century Dutch businesspeople 17th-century Dutch cartographers 1596 births 1673 deaths Articles containing video clips Dutch cartographers Dutch East India Company people People from Alkmaar

Life

Maps

See also

References

External links