Blaeu Family
1571-1673, Dutch Cartographic Publishers
The Blaeu family were the finest of all Dutch map publishers. The Blaeu printing house was at one time the largest printing house in the world and their influence and importance was wide reaching.
They were based in Amsterdam at the beginning of the seventeenth century, a city which was quickly becoming one of the wealthiest trading cities in the World. The Amsterdam of the late seventeenth century was the base of the Dutch East India Company and a centre for the diamond trade, banking, craftsmanship and invention. And it was of course at this time also a magnet for Europe's great intellectual and creative talents.
Below is a brief outline of the Blaeus and their works
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638), the founder of the Blaeu publishing house, had a long-standing interest in mathematics and astronomy which led him to Denmark, and Tycho Brahe, the celebrated Danish astromomer, where he was trained in astronomy and the sciences and learned the art of globe-making.
On returning to the Netherlands in 1599, he set up a business in Amsterdam as a globe and instrument maker. The business was to develop to incorporate its own printing press, publishing maps, topographical items and books of sea charts. Willem Janszoon Blaeu’s most notable early publications included sea charts in 'Het Licht Der Zee-Vaert' ( The Light of Navigation) in 1608 and a revised issue of Copernicus’ 'De Revolutionibus Orbium Caelestium'
At the same time Blaeu was planning his first major atlas intended to include the most up-to-date maps of the whole known world, but progress on such a large project was extremely slow and he and his son Joan, were forced to purchase plates of the Mercator Atlas from Jodocus Hondius Jr.’s stock to add to their own work.
The atlas appeared in 1630 as the 60 map volume entitled the 'Atlantis Appendix'. They expanded this work a year later, in 1631 to contain 98 maps, which bore the joint imprint of father and son with the title Appendix Theatri A.Ortelii Et Atlantis G. Mercatoris.
The Novus Atlas
Around this time he was appointed Hydrographer to the East India Company and it was another four years before the publication of the 'Theatrum' or 'Novus Atlas'. This two-volume work was larger still with up to 208 maps. This atlas, published in four separate editions in four different languages, was clearly an incredibly ambitious project, but it's success and plans for subsequent projects meant a premises move at this time.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu died in 1638 and control of the business passed to his sons, Joan and Cornelis, who continued and expanded their father's ambitious plans
After the death of Cornelis, Joan directed the work alone and the whole series of 6 volumes was eventually issued about 1655.
The Atlas Major
Not one to rest on his laurels, as soon as that was finished he began the preparation of the even larger work, the 'Atlas Major', which reached publication in 1662 and contained nearly 600 double-page maps and 3,000 pages of text, later editions had 9-12 volumes.
This was, and indeed remains, the most magnificent work of its kind ever produced, generally regarded as the pinnacle of atlas-publishing. Although its geographical content was not as accurate or as up-to-date as its author would have liked, any deficiencies in that department were well compensated for by its fine engraving and beautiful contemporary colouring, the elaborate cartouches and professional production which included pictorial and heraldic detail and splendid calligraphy.
Joan was eventually assisted by his own sons Willem, Pieter and Joan II. A disastrous fire destroyed the Blaeu printing works in 1672 and a year later Joan Blaeu died. Stocks of plates and maps were eventually dispersed throughout the business over the years, before their eventual closure around the year 1695. Notable purchasers of the plates included Schenk & Valck and Frederick de Wit.
The Blaeus raised the bar as far as standards of map production were concerned. Every stage of production involved the care and attention that later professional cartographers strove to emulate, using only the best paper, high printing standards and the finest engraving.
NOTE: There is often some confusion between Willem Janszoon Blaeu and the contemporary cartographer and Willem's great rival , Johannes Janssonius (Jan Jansson). Willem Blaeu, up until about 1620 signed his maps Guilielmus Janssonius or Willems Jans Zoon, but later decided to use Guilielmus Blaeu or G.Blaeu. This is a common mistake for the new collector, as Willem and Guilielmus are synonymous.
Image(s): 1. Portrait of Willem Janszoon Blaeu, by Jeremias Falck. 2. Title page from Atlas Novus
