Blaeu, Willem Janszoon, 1571-1638

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. 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.