Willem Jansz Blaeu

• Wikipedia - Willem Blaeu
• born - 1571 - Holland, Seven Provinces
• died - 21 Oct 1638 - Amsterdam, Holland
• children - Johannes and Cornelis Blaeu
• occupation - Cartographer, atlas maker, publisher In 1633 he was appointed map-maker of the Dutch East India Company. He was also an editor and publisher of Willebrord Snell, Adriaan Metius, Gerhard Johann Vossius and the historian and poet Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft.
• Regionaal Archief Leiden

Blaeu was born in Alkmaar in 1571. He started his career as a carpenter and a clerk in the Amsterdam mercantile office of his patrician cousin Comelis Pieterszoon Hooft. He was however very much interested in astronomy, navigation and cartography and in 1595- 1596 worked for a few months at Tycho Brahe's observatory on Hven (Denmark). After his return to Amsterdam, Blaeu married Marietje Comelisdochter and established himself as a dealer in globes and maps. He also made globes and maps himself and became quite renowned for his productions. His first terrestrial globe dates from 1599, his first celestial globe from 1602. Read more about him